Harry Potter  Potential hero potential villain
by beanseh
Summary: what if Harry lived up to the potential of being Toms equal, equal to the boy who could command his magic before Hogwarts and became immortal before he left. what if he had been just a little more observant of the odd things happening around him as a kid
1. Before Witchcraft and Wizardry

I'm sure I'm supposed to put some sort of disclaimer here stating that I don't own harry potter and what not but I didn't see it in the guidelines but I don't

Harry Potter – Potential hero potential villainChapter 1 – Before Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry James Potter was many things, none of them where happy and you might expect he would be he had in fact not three months ago defeated one of the greatest dark lords of all time in single combat. So why is our hero not happy, well let's start several years earlier at the beginning now knowing most of Harry's life story you might things the beginning was in fact 1980 when a prophecy was made and a child born or even 1981 when his problems began, but no his problems began with a very small act one so insignificant as to be the first pebble of a land slide.

It was primary school he had just escaped from Dudley and his gang by mysteriously appearing on the roof of the school now let me put this in prospective for you this was a three story high school for thousands of children and none of them noticed him get up there now some might think the impressive part was the getting up there had he known about it at the time harry might have thought so too but it was still "playtime" and no one noticed him up there.

With no way down and plenty of time to think harry being something of an odd boy for his age looked back at his short life remembering some of the other odd things he had done like the time he tripped and broke his aunts favourite china while Muriel was staying and while he was panicking about what she would do to him it repaired its self or the time the time where his aunt cut all his hair off and he was up all most all night in his cupboard thinking about what the other kids at school would do.

While he was thinking of these things he began to notice he was getting tired wondering why as it was still mid-morning and he hadn't had to do that many chores before school he began a self-examination the kind a child would do he looked to see if his clothes where suddenly inexplicably heavier or if he had something on his back and that is when he began to notice it. It was like a sore arm after pulling up a particularly tough weed only it was in the area of his chest now had it been any lower he might have just thought he was more starved than usual but as it was he began to rub his chest in an attempt to sooth the pain like a muscle as a child often dose. Fortunately for our young hero this had the effect of heightening his sensation of the phenomenon and as it did he noticed it was as if it was still in use like when you have ran until you get a stich and then keep running or running on a pulled muscle wondering what he could be doing to make this happen he noticed despite being on the roof of the school feet dangling over the edge no one had even noticed him let alone gone and got a teacher and he had been up there a while now or at least it seemed so and "playtime" was coming to an end.

He began to panic about getting down again and what would happen if he wasn't in class when it started and no sooner did he start thinking about this than he was suddenly on playground near the entrance now had these events been spaced out or had he not done it more than once he might have passed it off however as it was he realised he had somehow teleported himself from the playground from in front of Dudley and his gang to the rood and they HADDN'T noticed. Now that he was back on the ground he calmed down some and could feel the strain in his chest ease some now I say some you might expect it to ease altogether but he could still feel a strain for lack of a better world but harry couldn't think of what he might be doing to cause this so passed it off as just exhaustion after all he had just teleported twice and no one noticed.

Now you might think it odd for a young boy to make the connection between the feeling in his chest to the odd things that happened to and around him but it had happened many times over the centuries most recently to a young boy called tom now often when this happens there is an adult wizard for that's what those with the power inside themselves are called is around when a child dose something like this and would them it was just a case of accidental magic and that when they get their wand they would be able to learn to do these things intentionally or other wondrous things or at least this is the case in family's with magic in other cases the parents just pass it off as the child having a very active imagination and so the child eventually forgets. But in this case and a few others in history the child began to think about what he had done and like tom so many years before he had decided that ether he was some kind of mutant as he was not ignorant to his cousins cartoons or the comic books or it was magic like that of the story books from the library however unlike tom he didn't think this made him special after all there had been stories of wizards since a long time ago whenever Arthur ruled and being a child he had no idea that king Arthur is generally accepted to be myth.

Now again you might ask how he would know of king Arthur given that his aunt despises all things magic and that such things as the tails of merlin and his king would be the last things she would let in to her house however on a day where a teacher had not turned up due to heavy snow outside of town where she lived and a replacement teacher could not be found for first period a teacher put in a video tape of Disney's the sword in the stone in fact harry thought sir Edger was very reminiscent of uncle Vernon not that he used that word. He got a lot of ideas from that film and perhaps the most important of which was not what you might expect it was indeed quite subtle. Wizards cheat when a wizard wants to clean they have the pots, that and they all seem to be utterly barmy. Thus began Harrys life of deceptions and magic in fact that very day when returning to his aunt's house and cooking his relatives tea he decided to try a little magic to get the pots to clean them self's. Unfortunately such things aren't as easy as willing yourself to get away from bullies chasing you such things are primal ingrained into your instinct not that Harry could know this and so after twenty minutes of willing the stubbornly immobile pots and pans to wash themselves his aunt returned to the kitchen during a commercial brake seeing that Harry had not done the dishes reached for the nearest thing around to discipline him as she did often when he didn't do something upon command finding a frying pan and swinging at him. Harry seeing this tried to defend himself with his arms but wasn't quick enough catching his hand at an odd angle to the pan broke a couple of his fingers and the pan continued on to the back of his had knocking him unconscious.

Waking in the middle of the night finding himself in his cupboard taking stock of himself again he first noticed that his fingers hurt but he had long since learned not to cry out when in pain because it both wouldn't help and if he disturbed his aunt or worse his uncle they were only lightly to add to his pain and that the strain in his chest was back and worse than before. Trying to figure out what the magic was doing this time helped to keep his mind off the pain of his fingers that's when he noticed the sensation something a kin to pins and needles running down his arm to his broken fingers looking at them and having had to do something similar before with his toe he put some of the rag that the Durslys had given him as a blanket in his mouth and put them back into a strait position the pain was immense and he passed out again.

When harry woke the next morning he noticed his fingers had healed in the night a single night to heal broken fingers now Harry wasn't stupid in fact even if he was this many coincidences in such a short space of time would be hard for even the most blockhead of idiot to miss, Harry decided that he was going to need to practice if he wanted to be able to use his magic, for he had come to the conclusion that's what it was, when he desired which is why a lunch time we find harry in the least used part of the school during lunch the class room concentrating on that feeling in his chest and the pencil on the desk in front of him by the end of lunch all he had managed is a slight tingling along his arm. Over the next week he did this every lunch time by the end of the week he had managed to get the pencil to float, to come to him and to write what he thought.

The next few weeks at school during lunch he was made to stay outside as the teachers had found him in the classroom one lunch time thus Harry was attempting to recreate the teleporting he had done before and it came fairly easily to him something else that had come fairly easily was getting everyone to ignore him or rather not notice him at first he wasn't sure if it was magic until he noticed the drain on what he had begun calling his core. When he realised he could get everyone to not notice him things began to get a little better for Harry he could avoid being singled out by his aunt and uncle and he could even get food during meal times without being noticed by his relatives oh he was still made to do unreasonable amounts of chores but like with the pencil writing his school work he had learned to make the chores do themselves such that pots and pans where scrubbed by animate cloths and floors moped themselves all without his relatives noticing oh it was tiring but he was becoming less so now that he was doing it often and getting fed on a regular basis.

So it continued for several years Harry using his magic to do chores and remain unnoticed in his tenth year things had been going quite well for some time for Harry and he decided it was time to learn something new after all wizards cheat and he hadn't been cheating much oh he had made his pencil do the writing and the pans do the chores but he was still learning like everyone else like a chump that was following the rules to learn, now he thought about how to cheat about learning and he thought about having books read themselves to him but that seemed very close to a teacher reading to him as they do so often in class and it wouldn't help him with maths nor would having the answers present themselves as he probably wouldn't learn how to do the questions.

Harry figured what he needed was something like the understanding his teachers had would be what he needed but how to get that was where he was stuck, staring at the back of the teachers head demanding his magic tell him what the teacher knew and that was how it happened stuck on the introduction to algebra question as he was when his teacher turned from writing something inconsequential on the board and scanned the room to check for misbehaviour he made eye contact with Harry. In that moment there seemed to be nothing to harry other than maths for that is what he wanted from his teacher everything he knew about maths and that's what his magic took from him but maths is a complex thing to understand and to go from understanding addition, subtraction, division and multiplication to collage level understanding in maths in a single moment is a very impressive feet unfortunately it was not without consequence for both teacher and student for teacher it was a small headache as if he had just crammed hard for his A-level exams and for Harry it was much worse harry in fact from this influx of information nearly died.

So much information in such a short time is far too much for a normal mind to deal with fortunately his mind was not normal it had magic flowing though it at the time oh it was still too much at once but the mind of a wizard is a resilient thing when it has magic flowing though it in fact taking in all this magic at once forced harry into a coma such that he was taken to hospital from school and his relatives alerted. Now in most cases you might expect they would leave him there to be helped but the Durslys feared that the Drs might look closer at the child's body and notice his scars and so instead of being left in the hospital to recover he was dispatched to "recover in a familiar environment" and palms where greased to make it so. All the while Harrys mind and magic where working overtime to deal with the massive influx of information such that it needed to be organised and his mind defended from further overload thus when he woke up a few days later his mind was a veritable fortress or perhaps a fortress of learning might be more accurate as that's what the defences where geared towards, being able to process information in whatever form it came sort it and understand it. That's not to say he suddenly developed massive reasoning skills or sudden understanding of the ways of the universe no what Harry had developed is the ability to learn very quickly from the minds of others not that he knew this of course why would he, but at least he did get his desired knowledge of maths despite his coma he felt quite please at that he smiled to himself as he went back to sleep.

(A.N. this is my first fan fic and the most ive written since I left school where in I failed English so please forgive pathetic spelling and grammer . I know chapter one seems both short and has a lack of dialoge but this was mainly to get past the early part of the story where the conversations wouldn't really have had much impact later on anyway.)

(A.N. you may notice harry seem quite powerful you may also notice I tried to compare him to tom a lot especialy in cases where I wanted you to dispend you disbelief something that has grated on me since it was pointed out to me was that harry is VERY VERY mediocre he is not good at anything if there is a power the dark lord knows not its obviously luck espcialy given incident with the taboo and bella I say very mediocre because look at what tom achived by his 6th year at the absolute latest not only was he prefect but he had achived immortality now im assuming its not as simple as reading a single book and thinking that looks like fun ill give that a try and immidiatly wanding into a toilet stall to kill a girl or even lets look at harry own father he became an animagus by 5th year and created the marauders map I say that because dispite what a useful tool it could have been for the staff nether Sirius or Remus made a copy for them where as all of harrys achivements can be directly linked to luck almost every one of them except his patronus but lets look at that for a moment what kind of teacher subjects your to a soul destroying mind altering demon before ensureing you can at least cast the shield veriaty of the patrous so to recap my rant tom and james both achived gr8 things while still young tom even managed multiple purposeful uses of magic without a wand b4 hogwarts its not inconceivable that harry might if he used even a little brain power).


	2. you're a wizard Harry, well duh

Chapter 2 – "you're a wizard Harry", "well duh"

School had just finished and Harry was somewhat looking forward to going to a school apart from Dudley. Today was Dudley's birthday and they were going to be going to the zoo why his aunt and uncle thought Dudley might enjoy that he didn't know. Getting into the car Harry could hear Dudley whining about his presence there, "but why is the freak coming I don't want him there he'll ruin it" "now Dudders I told you I couldn't get anyone to take care of him and I don't trust him in my house on his own goodness knows we would come back to a pile of rubble". 'hrmph like I'd do something as stupid as that' Harry thought.

After watching the monkeys doing not much of anything harry was privately disappointed he was hoping to see them throw poo at Dudley and uncle Vernon unfortunately unlike TV shows animals rarely do interesting things. "I'm bored" Dudley whined to his father "how about we go see the reptile house its feeding time in ten minutes" Vernon responded. Fifteen minutes later we find Harry watching a large boa constrictor eating its lunch "stupid humans, always mice why can't I have something nice like a nice juicy rat". Harry hearing this looked around 'who'd want to eat rats' eugh' he though then making eye contact with the boa he suddenly realised who or rather what would prefer rats. "Was that you" harry whispered quietly he didn't want to look insane after all. The boa stopped squeezing its food and rose up to look Harry in the eye and winked "speaker, can you give me a rat?" "I don't have a rat" harry replied with confusion "why'd you call me speaker?" "That's what you are what else would I call you?" "Err, ok but I still don't have any rats sorry." With that the boa ignored Harry and went back to his lunch and Harry wandered off to catch up to his relatives.

Later after Dudley had consumed what seemed like all of the food in Surrey it was time to leave the zoo, snake not withstanding Harry thought it was perhaps the most boring place he'd been to very little information on any of the animals in the cages or their natural habitats. Dudley complained all the way home that he wanted to go to the cinema with his friends for his birthday so he was dropped off nearby with some money.

Returning to number 4 picking up mail on the way in Petunia let out a gasp "Vernon" showing him the letter. "I'll not have it in my house we will just ignore it and they'll not send any more pet." "I don't think that'll work Vernon you don't know these people they aren't like us they have no consideration for others." "I don't care love; I'll not have those people disturbing good normal folk like us."

The next day they got another letter that was promptly burned, and another the day after that was again burned, the day after that they got several letters and the day after that they had letters in the milk bottle balled up inside the eggs. It was the day after that Vernon decided enough was enough "that's it I won't have them pestering us with all the junk mail any longer, boy come here." Harry came into the kitchen from the garden where he had been relaxing while the weeds pulled themselves out of the ground, "yes uncle". "I want you to read this trash and then tell them to leave us good folk alone" taking the letter Harry began to read.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore  
>(Order of Merlin, First class, Grand sorcerer, Chief. Warlock,<br>Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter,  
>We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl no later than 31st July.<p>

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall  
>Deputy Headmistress<p>

-  
>The list of supplies book list is as follows

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft And Wizardry

Uniform:  
>First year students will require:<br>1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
>2. one plain pointed hat (black) for day wear<br>3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
>4. One winter cloak (black with silver fastenings)<p>

Set Books  
>All Students should have a copy of the following:<br>The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk  
>A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot<br>Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling  
>A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch<br>One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllis Spore  
>Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger<br>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander  
>The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble<p>

Other Equipment  
>1 wand<br>1 cauldron (pewter standard size 2)  
>1 set of glass or crystal phials<br>1 telescope  
>1 set of brass scales<p>

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.

"So you want me to write back and tell them what that I'm not coming?" "Yes boy, I want them to leave us alone these blasted letters are getting very annoying." "But surely if I'm away at this school then I won't be here all abnormal and out of place in your home upsetting your normal life and being a burden on your finances?" "I don't care boy just get rid of them if you want to go to this freak place so be it but take my word you'll end up just like your parents." "Any idea what they mean by we await your owl?" Harry asked. "My freak sister used to send letters with those pestilential birds all the time" interrupted Petunia. Looking outside Harry couldn't see any owls "I can't see any owls outside how do they expect me to reply to this letter stupid wizards".

The next day instead of a letter there was a knock at the door a rather loud knock the shook the hard wood door in its frame. Vernon got up to go give whoever was at the door a piece of his mind opening the door however he had to look up to a giant of a man who must have been teen feet tall. "What do you want?" Vernon demanded of the giant. "I've come to take 'arry to get his school things, my names 'Agrid I'm the keeper of keys at 'ogwarts". "Don't just stand there man someone might see you get inside before the neighbours think I associate with people like you".

In the back kitchen away from the craning necks and prying eyes of the women of the cul-de-sac stood Hagrid and Vernon while harry sat at the table "you see Harry you're a wizard", "well duh, what else would the letters have been about". "Oh well er with thought you might not have got them when you didn't reply". "And you expected me to do that how its not like everyone owns an owl and you didn't give a return address?" "Oh right yea sorry, anyway we have lots to do". Raising an eyebrow and giving uncle Vernon a look that said "is he serious?" and receiving a confused nod in return. With that Harry followed Hagrid out the door.

"So where are going to get all this stuff its not exactly the sort of thing you find in the local B&Q is it?". "Ah Harry we'll get it at Diagon ally in London". "Never heard of it" "well you wouldn't its hidden from the muggles 'ain't it". "Muggles?" Harry asked. "People without magic Harry" "it doesn't sound very nice" harry muttered under his breath. "How are we getting there London isn't exactly just down the street?" "We'll be using the night bus o'corse Harry" answered Hagrid as though Harry should have known. "Not to be a pain in the but here Hagrid but you keep saying these things as if I should know already but what is the knight bus and will it matter that its daytime and not night". Hagrid didn't respond but simply stud on the curb and stuck out his umbrella and there was a loud crack and a large purple triple decker bus was there.

"Welcome to the knight bus transport for the stranded witch or wizard" a voice sounded from inside. "Ey Ern got two for Diagon" Hagrid greeted the driver "sixteen sickles three knuts" answered the conductor. Hagrid handed over some silver and bronze looking coins to the conductor and went to get a seat for himself and Harry. "What are those then since they obviously aren't pounds and pence?" Harry asked. "That's wizard money Harry" holding out his hand with a bunch of coins in it "the big gold ones are Galleons they are worth the most next is the silver ones sickles seventeen of those to a Galleon and last is the little bronze ones knuts them twenty nine of them to a sickle" Hagrid explained as the bus zoomed about jerking Harry back into his seat.

Ten minutes later arriving at a pub called the leaky cauldron Hagrid exited the knight bus and Harry stumbled out after him "I don't feel so well Hagrid is all wizard travel that… crazy?" harry asked privately thinking he would teleport back to number four later rather than take that bus anywhere ever again. "nah but I don't have an aperation licence and we wouldn't both fit on a broom, come on Harry got to get to the bank". Hurrying Harry though the bar towards a door at the back Hagrid got out his umbrella and they left though the back door. Hagrid counted bricks and then tapped a few of them with his umbrella, Harry watched shocked and fairly awed as the wall began moving and separating its self into an archway "wow" harry breathed.

"Welcome to Diagon ally Harry its get everything a witch or wizard needs but first we have to go to Gringott's bank" Hagrid said as he strode off down the alley at a pace Harry had to jog a bit to keep up. It was somewhat difficult for harry to keep up as he was trying to take in everything around him and the same time as keep up with Hagrid in the narrow winding ally way, he could see shops selling cauldrons in different metals some made of pewter whatever that was others of brass and an advert for self-stirring rods, shops selling dragon dung fertilizer by the sack full he gave that one something of a wide birth, shops selling broomsticks he idly wondered if they had bed knobs too he figured they might it seemed Hagrid was right if only because the ally seemed to have a store for every odd or end you might want.

"…Harry potter starts school this year we might get to meet him when we go" Harry herd some girl using his name and caught the end of the what she was saying unfortunately he didn't get to hear the response from whoever she was talking to but he did wonder why someone would want to meet him or even why they would know his name. jogging a bit more to catch up Harry was somewhat lost in thought when he bumped into the back of Hagrid "ouff, sorry Hagrid wasn't paying attention", "S'ok Harry we're here Gringgott's Bank safest place there is 'cept 'ogwarts o'course, ran by goblins nasty creatures goblins clever though". 'They trust these nasty creatures to run their bank, huh must be like the tax man wouldn't want one of those around for tea ether I suppose' Harry thought.

Entering the bank harry could see it was huge it had a grand feel to it like you might expect from a cathedral or an opera house and yet it was clearly very functional with many goblins at what could only be cashiers desks and others at bigger more grandiose desks that must be for something like customer enquiries. Hagrid directed him towards a goblin manning one of the larger desks and announced "Harry Potter has come to take some money from his vault" and before the goblin could respond Harry shocked said "wait I have a vault since when? Why do I have a vault? What's in it?" The goblin raised an eyebrow at this Harry wasn't sure if it was because he interrupted him or if it was because he didn't know he had a vault "of course you have a vault mister Potter two in fact a rather generous trust vault and your family vault of witch access will be granted upon your maturity" stated the goblin matter of factly. "I take it you do not have your key then since you did not know of your vault, I shall get the lost key forms" the goblin said as if it was typical of wizards to not take care of their money, "I have it here" Hagrid said quickly again the goblin raised his eyebrow. Quickly examining the key the goblin shouted "Griphook take mister Potter to his vault" a goblin came out from somewhere Harry hadn't seen.

Passing through a door behind the large desk following the goblin identified as Griphook they came upon a mine cart with a steering wheel on a track heading in to as far as Harry could tell complete darkness. Getting into the cart behind Hagrid and Griphook when suddenly the cart took off at speeds Harry was sure weren't safe from the corner of his eyes harry caught a flash of light "what was that?" he asked. "Dragon I bet, always wanted a dragon myself misunderstood creatures they are" Hagrid said wistfully Griphook grunted in what could have been a goblin version of a snort Harry privately thought he had been right all those years ago when he decided all wizards are balmy.

Coming to a stop in front of a giant metal door well Harry assumed it must be a door or they wouldn't have stopped in front of it but he couldn't see any hinges or even a seem where it might open, he watched as Griphook walked over to the door and extended his finger and lightly traced a line down the door a seem appearing behind his finger as it moved. When the goblin had finished the door slowly started to swing open leaving a view of a cavernous space with a large pile of coins of all colours about knee high off the floor and as wide as Hagrid is round "nice, how much will I need for my school things Hagrid?" "oh about 30 galleons 'arry here use this sack" he said handing him a small bag harry eyed with suspicion it didn't seem big enough to fit five in never mind thirty but he put the coins in as instructed a few more than he probably needed at that too after all there was some interesting shops he had passed.

After riding the cart up to the suffice again Hagrid asked harry to wait there while he dealt with some Hogwarts business handing the goblin they had first spoken to a letter of some kind he was again lead away by another goblin, by this time Griphook had given Harry his key back and told him not to lose it or entrust it to anyone. Waiting in the lobby of the bank harry observed the other customers going about their day he had to admire the efficiency it all seemed very quick and yet at the same time no goblin looked rushed it was almost as if it was all geared to get the wizards out of the bank as quick as possible he couldn't decide if this was because the wizards wanted quick service or the goblins just didn't want the wizards around them. Before he knew it Hagrid had returned looking pale "urgh let's get out of here eh harry those carts always make me feel a bit peaky".

Leaving the bank Hagrid went in to what looked like a box shop it seemed to sell boxes of every shape and size harry following him couldn't help but look around at the teetering towers of boxes, chests, cabinets and suitcases. "Hogwarts?" the man at the desk asked as if that was all he needed to know, a bit bewildered Harry responded with an nod. "yes, yes I know what you need" he said coming round the counter and simply pulling one of the chests from the tower that Harry had been looking at sure it was going to fall on him and dragged it as though it weighed nothing next to the counter. "All your usual charms on it, feather light, shrinkable and comes with your standard anti-theft runes nothing fancy but enough to stop light fingered strangers". "Runes?" Harry asked, "aye you'll learn about them in third year if you take that course can do all sorts, well?" "Huh oh yea I'll take it does it come in blue?" "certainly that'll be eight galleons 2 sickles" he said tapping the chest with what must be a wand as it turned blue, harry counted out the correct money from his little sack and handed it to the man before leaving with his new chest.

"look harry I'm not feeling to well those carts ya' know you got to madam Malkins just there and get your robes I'm gonna' get a drink to settle me stomach yea I'll be back before your done don't worry" Hagrid said pointing to a shop with a giant pair of animated scissors and a strip of red ribbon above its window. Entering the shop Harry was once again greeted with "Hogwarts?" again he just nodded thinking about it he realised that those acceptance letters must go out at roughly the same time every year and the stores must deal with a lot of children needing them to be in and out as quick as possible so they didn't get too full or over crowded it must speed things up to ask that first but he thought it awful rude none the less. Harry was bade to stand on one of 3 pedestals one already occupied by a blonde boy as the woman presumably madam Malkin busied herself measuring him and the needle and thread whizzed back and forth stitching the blondes robes together.

Ignoring the blonde who had sneered at him seeing his patched jeans and holey jumper Harry made conversation with the witch measuring him up "hi does this normally take long?" he asked. "not usually young man but mister Malfoy over here wants custom robes, you should be done any minute now, ah here we go." Handing a set of robes that he had seen cut and make themselves from a large swath of cloth at the back of the store "that'll be two galleons 14sickles please" handing the lady the money Harry spied Hagrid thought the store window waving to him as he bade the lady goodbye.

After putting his first ever new clothes in his new chest Hagrid suggested that they get his books next at flourish and blots. Entering the store this time Harry wasn't greeted with "Hogwarts" but rather by towers of books none of which looked the same or even to be in any kind of order following Hagrid to the counter where Hagrid said "Hogwarts first year". Recognising Hagrid from his own time at the institution the assistant rushed around collecting books from several seemingly unorganized piles around the store assuming he must be guiding a muggleborn he added a pamphlet on some of the basic need to know things about the wizarding world. Meanwhile harry had spotted a book that had caught his interest _Harry Potter and the Serpent King_ 'ok that's it I'm gonna ask Hagrid what's going on with everyone known my name and it being used on book are they even talking about me if it's being used on books am I getting paid for it somehow?' Harry thought.

Leaving the store Harry immediately asked about the books and people in the street "Hagrid why was my name on some of the books in that store and why where some girls talking about me by name excitedly?" using as firm a voice as he could. "Well harry your famous see" Hagrid said rubbing the back of his neck, "I don't rightly know I'm the right person to tell ya this 'arry but ya can't go to ogwarts not knowing. Let's go to the cauldron and get a drink while I tell ya"

Five minutes later in a booth in the cauldron Hagrid proceeded to explain "you see 'arry before you were born this wizard was went bad, as bad as you can go, went round murdering people lef' n' right. Got himself a followin' he did they called themselves death eaters no one could stop him they tried mind you lost many a good wizard trying too. Then one night he came after you no one knows why but when he turned his wand on you and cast the curse that had ended so many others it didn't work that's where you got your scar. He hasn't been seen since, some say he's dead some say he didn't have enough human left in 'im to die" "whoa" Harry replied after a short silence Harry spoke up again "what was he called this wizard who went bad?" Hagrid looked around and then whispered "Voldemort".

Leaving the cauldron a bit more sombre than when they went in Hagrid moved at a much more sedate pace Harry could keep up without having to jog, they went into a store Harry had seen on the way to the bank. This was another simple matter though there was no need to go around the store picking up individual ingredients Hagrid simply went up to the desk and said "Hogwarts first year" again and the clerk sneered at Harry clearly unimpressed with his dress and got a box from under the counter presumably filled with ingredients and greenish blue coloured cauldron from the shelf behind him. "4 galleons 2 sickles" he stated as though they were wasting his time. Handing over the money Harry was starting to get the feeling he was missing something hear this seemed to be more than just a case of trying to speed the process up but he couldn't put his finger on it so he dismissed it.

"right now, saved the best for last lets go get you a wand." Hagrid said directing Harry to a store that proclaimed "Olivander's makers of fine wands since 382 BC" "you got inside and get your wand I'm gonna' go get you a birthday gift, bet ya thought I didn't know eh told ya your famous 'arry". Entering the store it seemed almost abandoned walking up to the desk still seeing no one Harry said "hello". "Hello mister Potter" greeted a voice from behind him as he jumped "here for your wand I take it, yes, yes well let's get started" he said throwing a tape measure in the air as it began of its own accord measuring Harry every which way. "here try this" he said handing Harry a box of a shelf, picking it up Harry felt rather stupid what was he supposed to do with it, as if reading his mind "well give it a wave" mister Olivander instructed, doing so caused some glass object in the rear of the store Harry hadn't identified to explode. "no, no that won't do perhaps this" getting a different box from a completely different part of the store down this time when Harry waved it some papers set on fire on the counter. One disastrous wand after another, after what seemed like fifty boxes mister Olivander getting more excited with every box.

"Tricky customer indeed mister Potter, yes but we will find you a wand, hrmm perhaps try this one" Olivander said handing him yet another box. This time Harry felt a rush from his chest right down his arm as a colourful swath of sparks issued from his wand. "Excellent mister Potter a most interesting wand to be chosen by" "really, why?" Harry returned. "Mister Potter of all the wands in my store no two are identical just as no two dragons, phoenix or unicorns are the same or even one tree to the next. Yet your wand shares a core of a phoenix tail feather from the very same phoenix that gave just one other feather and phoenix rarely give any materials for wands let alone two tail feathers from the same phoenix, but the other feather was used in the wand that gave you that scar" mister Olivander said looking at Harrys scar as if it was a very interesting puzzle he was trying to solve. "err, thanks how much do I owe you sir" paying for his wand he left to go find Hagrid.

Finding Hagrid just outside the store holding a cage with a blanket over it "happy birthday Harry" he greeted handing harry the cage. "Wow thanks Hagrid what is it?" harry asked not wanting to lift the blanket and disturb the cages contents. "That's a snowy owl, dead useful they are can carry your letters and everything got some food for him here too" Hagrid said helping harry put the new owl treats in his chest. "Well that's everything Harry I gotta be getting back to 'ogwarts, you reckon you can remember how to summon the knight bus eh?" Hagrid said. "yea I think I'll manage just stick out my wand right?" Harry replied "yup nothin' to it, well gotta be off, Hogwarts " Hagrid said throwing some green powder into the cauldron's fireplace and stepping in. "phew busy day" harry said to himself as he teleported back to number four.


	3. Harry Potter's coming to Hogwarts

Chapter 3 – Harry Potter's coming to Hogwarts

It had been a few weeks since Hagrid had visited and Harry had been moved to the smallest bedroom of number four since he wouldn't be in it for much of the year it was still much Dudley's store room for his toys but at least now Harry had a bed in which his feet didn't touch the bottom of the stairs. He had managed to read though all of his school books much of what he read had been very disappointing it seemed first year in most classes was more to get the pupil to get a feel for their magic as everything he had tried had required so little effort other than a little visualisation for the transfiguration and a little willpower for the charms. Most disappointing of all was history of magic the book appeared to have been written over fifty years ago and was mainly filled with dates and names of goblin rebellions and who started them, no mention what so ever of merlin and his adventures. The only subject that Harry felt was going to be interesting in his first year was potions oh it was still proof of concept things but at least they would be making things that might be useful because really who has a surplus of matchsticks and a deep need for needles.

Harry had also named his owl, Archimedes after Merlin's owl he didn't hold out much hope of getting him to talk though. He had let Archimedes out every night to hunt and while it left his room cold in the morning it did at least save his owl treats for special occasions and he thought Archimedes probably preferred it that way anyway.

Having read though the pamphlet in the book bag he had discovered how to get onto the train to school, apparently there was a hidden platform on kings cross station on the third of four pillars of platform nine. He wasn't sure how he was going to get there having never teleported to somewhere he had never been before he felt it best to ask his uncle to take him now he just had to wait till his uncle was in the right frame of mind. After dinner one evening Harry decided to broach the subject "uncle the train for school leaves in a week from kings cross, do you think I could get a lift off of you on your way to work please?" "Humph, funny way to get to a magic school isn't it?" "Is that a yes then?" "Fine but I don't want to hear from you till September and you had better be ready when I go to work I'm not waiting around for you". "Thank you uncle".

A week later finds Harry on platform nine at 8:45 with two hours to waste before the train arrives, he had already sent off Archimedes to make his own way to school not wanting to subject him to the cramped space in his uncle's car. Having located what he believed to be the correct pillar he now had to find a way to occupy his time for 2 hours, he decided to spend it reading his standard book of spells grade 1 he had found plenty of small spells with great utility so far. So he set up his chest as an impromptu bench against a wall and got out his book. Utterly absorbed in two hours later he almost didn't notice till the station announcer called over the tannoy "the ten to eleven train to Leeds will be departing shortly from platform 4".

Harry stood up alert and began putting his book back in his chest and headed to the pillar to get on the train, spotting a family of red haired people harry held back while they made their way through. "Mum I wanna go, why can't I go this year I'm almost old enough?" whined the small red haired girl to her mother. "You can't go this year Ginny but I promise it won't seem so long this year hunny" the mother replied having seen the boys though the barrier. Harry waited for them to move off then proceeded though himself.

Seeing the train for the first time Harry was quite awed it was quite different from the usual diesel trains he was used to steam seemed to billow around the engine obscuring the driver and the track. Harry moved to the passenger cars to find himself a place to sit for the journey, coming across no empty booths he decided to join a group of students that looked to be his own age. Opening the door to the booth Harry greeted sandy haired boy and a bushy haired girl "hi I'm Harry can I sit here?" Immediately the bushy haired girl stood up and offered her hand "Hermione Granger pleased to meet you" she proffered, harry shook her hand feeling she was a little off. "Neville Longbottom" the slightly plump sandy haired boy offered with a nod towards Harry receiving one in return.

They spent the next few hours talking about their accidental magic before Hogwarts Hermione going first "when I was about 8 mum sent me to bed without my bedtime story for the first time we'd been reading the lord of the rings and I really wanted to know what happened in the next chapter unfortunately she kept it on a high shelf in my room and I couldn't reach it, I had just fallen after trying to climb on the dresser when the book suddenly flew at me. Well I can tell you at first I thought it had just fallen off the shelf but then I noticed all the other books where neatly against the wall. What about you guy's what was your first bit of accidental magic?"

Harry remained quiet and nudged Neville hopeing to get him to go next and he did. "When I was younger all my family thought I was a squib." "What's a squib?" interrupted Harry. "A squib is when magical has a child with no magic" Neville answered. "That can happen?" Harry asked. "Yea it's not really talked about though because a lot of family's don't treat squibs very well sometimes they don't even make it to eleven" "that's awful" Hermione interjected. "Well anyway my first accidental magic was when I was nine and my uncle Algie was round and well because he thought I was a squib he kind of dropped me out of a second story window but when I hit the floor I bounced." Neville continued. "Oh my god that's awful" Hermione said giving Neville a tight squeeze that might have been a hug. "my gran was so angry at him after that he couldn't sit down for weeks she never told me what she did but I think I'm better off not knowing" they all shared a little chuckle at that.

Harry went next given what he had heard though he figured he had best downplay it a bit. "When I was six I was doing the dishes for my aunt but because I had to use a stool to reach the sink I tripped off it and dropped the plate I was washing and it broke, I was scared what my aunt would do I was panicking and then the dish was whole again and clean too". "wow I mean I know you had the thing with "you know who" when you were a baby but still six is really young for accidental magic you must be pretty powerful to do it so young" Neville said with some awe in his voice.

Hermione went again feeling a bit braver now around these two if they had shared that their family's weren't particularly kind to them they shouldn't think to poorly of her for being picked on at school right "Another time when I was at school Helen McLaney was always picking on me for being a bit of a know it all, I like to read is all but this time she and her group of girls had cornered me in the toilets and where pulling my hair and calling me names I remember wishing they would just leave me alone. Then all of a sudden it was like they couldn't see me I know I wasn't invisible or something because I could see myself in the mirrors but they acted as if they had just gone to the toilets to use them it was really weird for the rest of the day they didn't seem to even notice me." "pretty useful bit of magic that" Harry said knowing from experience how useful not being noticed by those that want to do you harm really is and so it went on for the next several hours the three young preteens shearing small anecdotes about their life's so far Neville showing them his toad Trevor and Hermione telling them her parents had never let her have a pet before the both of them being quite busy with work all day there would be no one to look after it during the day.

After a few hours a woman with a trolley of sweats and pastries came around selling her wares, Harry having a fair amount left over after Diagon and wanting to ingratiate himself with his new friends bought a small mountain of food. It seemed even wizard candy was strange having everything from chews that's whizzed about making a "wheeee" noise before launching themselves into your mouth to frog made of chocolate that try to escape. Sampling a few pieces of each Harry indicated for the other two to have some too opening a chocolate frog he had to drop the box to catch the frog as it made a respectable attempt at not being eaten "that's gotta be the strangest sweet I've had I mean who wants their food to run away from them" Harry said. "Hey Harry can I have the card might be one I need?" Neville said spotting the dropped box. "Card?" Hermione said. "Oh right yea you wouldn't know chocolate frog cards come with cards of famous witches and wizards from history on them with a little bit of information, got a good collection myself it might be one I need" he said as he picked up the box from where Harry had dropped it, "aw, just Dumbledore already got him, here" Neville said handing Harry the card. Flipping it over Harry read aloud _"Albus Dumbledore Currently Head master of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling." _ By this time Neville had opened another chocolate frog "hey I got you, look" he said handing Harry his own card. "Harry Potter, currently riding the Hogwarts express. Famous for his defeat as a baby of the dark lord Voldemort on all hallows eve 1981 and surviving the killing curse. Hey how'd they know where I am?" Harry asked. "Dunno mate but they are all like that y'know self-updating" Neville answered having swallowed his frog.

Another hundred miles down the track the day getting late into the afternoon the trio of children were interrupted by the blonde Harry had met Diagon. Sliding the door open Malfoy greeted them with "Oh it's you then, I had wondered why you were dressed like a muggle in Malkins but it seems it's entirely the company you keep. You'll soon find Potter, that some wizarding families are better than others and I can help you there, Draco Malfoy" offering his hand as if he expected Harry or one of the others to kiss it. Receiving raised eyebrows and a retort from Harry of "after that introduction Malfoy, I'm sure I can find out for myself which families are better or worse than others thank you very much" making sure to emphasize just exactly how thankful he was for the offer. Malfoy gave them a sneer witch seemed more of a pet lip on the young blonde then he probably would have like as he turned and left the cabin.

Getting dark now a voice sounded though the cabin over what seemed to be an invisible tannoy and announced "we will be arriving at Hogsmeade station in 10 minutes a reminder to all students to please ensure their robes are worn for the opening feast. First years are also to remember to leave their luggage on the train it will be delivered to your room later this evening." Taking turns to leave the cabin our three youngsters changed into their new school robes. "It's a bit impractical this silly hat and everything it's not like I'm gonan pull a rabbit out of it anytime soon." Harry said feeling a bit daft with a pointy hat on. "it's probably tradition, I doubt they expect us to wear the hat all the time Harry" Hermione said.

As the train pulled into the station it was a flurry of activity and chaos steam everywhere making it hard to see what was going on Harry, Hermione and Neville struggled to find their way onto the platform. "first years this way, first years over here" they heard a loud baritone yell from the other end of the station and started making their way over steam clearing Harry could make out Hagrid's form holding a lantern. As the station began to clear Hagrid announced "right, this way, follow me." Holding his lantern aloft and heading towards a wharf near a large lake, Harry could make out a group of wooden row boats. Stopping at the docks Hagrid instructed "no more than four to a boat" as the students sorted themselves into boats our trio was joined by another girl with frizzy red hair "hi" she greeted shyly and they responded in kind.

As they crossed the lake there was something of a hushed awe amongst the students the boats moving quietly though the water of their own accord. "you'll get ya' first look a' Hogwarts just round this bend" Hagrid claimed as they passed a large section of cliff. "Wow it's like something out of a fairy tale" Hermione said her voice full of awe, spying the castle on the hill the half-moon casting half of the castle in light and the other side in shadow . the boats slowly pulled into a cavern in the cliff face under the castle and Hagrid led a precession of students up a staircase to a large oak door where another figure was waiting for them.

"Thank you Hagrid, my name is professor McGonagall and I will be your transfiguration teacher for your stay at Hogwarts, I am also deputy headmistress and I will help you with any problems your head of house can't my office is open between 6pm and 9pm weekday and 11am till 7pm weekends. In a moment we will be heading into the great hall where you will be sorted into your house, they are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin while you are at Hogwarts your house will be like your family. Good behaviour and exemplary work will earn your house points and misbehaviour will result in lost points and detentions you have been warned. Now follow me" the woman now identified as McGonagall announced as she pushed open a door leading to a small hallway before a large set of double doors.

As the doors swung open Harry had lost count of the times he had been awed today it was getting to be a bit much the hall had a very magical feel to it with the dark night sky seemingly right above them and the candles floating around the tables. "It's enchanted to look like that night sky" Hermione said excitedly "I read about it in Hogwarts – a history" she continued. Stopping before a stool in front of a table on a plinth with the staff sat at it, the students gathered as McGonagall placed a tattered brown leather pointed wizards hat upon it and stepped back. Just ask Harry was beginning to wonder what she was waiting for a large rip in the brim opened up and began to sing.

_Oh you may not think me pretty,__  
>But don't judge on what you see,<em>_  
>I'll eat myself if you can find<em>_  
>A smarter hat than me.<em>_  
>You can keep your bowlers black,<em>_  
>Your top hats sleek and tall,<em>_  
>For I'm the<em>_Hogwarts__Sorting Hat__  
>And I can cap them all.<em>_  
>There's nothing hidden in your head<em>_  
>The Sorting Hat can't see,<em>_  
>So try me on and I will tell you<em>_  
>Where you ought to be.<em>

You might belong in

_Gryffindor__,__  
>Where dwell the brave at heart,<em>_  
>Their daring, nerve, and chivalry<em>_  
>Set<em>_Gryffindor's apart;__  
>You might belong in<em>_Hufflepuff__,__  
>Where they are just and loyal,<em>_  
>Those patient<em>_Hufflepuff__s are true__  
>And unafraid of toil;<em>_  
>Or yet in wise old<em>_Ravenclaw__,__  
>if you've a ready mind,<em>_  
>Where those of wit and learning,<em>_  
>Will always find their kind;<em>_  
>Or perhaps in<em>_Slytherin__  
>You'll make your real friends,<em>_  
>Those cunning folks use any means<em>_  
>To achieve their ends.<em>

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

_And don't get in a flap!__  
>You're in safe hands (though I have none)<em>_  
>for I'm a Thinking Cap!<em>

'Oddest song I ever heard no tune to it and it didn't even rhyme' harry thought to himself. "I will call your names one at a time, when I call yours come up and place that hat upon your head and be sorted to your respective houses" McGonagall recapped for the students. Harry watched as Hanna Abbott was called up not envying her having to go first at all as she put the hat on and it seemed to raise a fold as if it was an eyebrow and it was thinking before it proclaimed her a "Hufflepuff" to the room she hopped down from the stool and jogged over to the space at the end of her new house table. This went one for a while until it was Hermione's turn she shyly went up to the stool and it was placed on her head. It seemed to Harry as if it took longer than other students as the hats expression changed a few times before it announced "Gryffindor" Hermione beamed as she bounced off the stool and ran over to the table with the red banners to light applause.

The next student Harry paid attention to was Neville giving him a nod as he passed Neville gave something of a squeak when the hat was placed on his head, not long after he shook his head as if answering the hat after which it called "Gryffindor". Harry gave a round of applause with the rest of the Gryffindor's as Neville joined them. Soon Malfoy was strutting up the isle as though he owned the place and almost before the hat touched his head it announced "Slytherin", with a half grin Malfoy confidently strode towards the green clad table. Next up was the girl who had shared a boat with them "Morag MacDougal" after the hats short deliberation became a "Ravenclaw".

Soon it was Harrys turn as his name was called he could hear some of the already seated students whispering "I heard he was trained by Dumbledore since he was young", "wow you can see his scar right there" and "I bet he's really powerful, I mean he must be right to survive the killing curse?". Sitting on the stool he was a bit alarmed when the hat was put on his head when several things hit him at once, strict definitions of the words bravery, honour, ambition and wise amongst a jumble of information concerning mind reading though contact. But all he could concentrate on was the voice that said "hrmm, a difficult one yes a good amount of curiousness and not a bad mind too you'd make an excellent raven young man, but then I suppose you question things that don't make sense so perhaps you wouldn't" the hat said to him. 'I'd like to be with my friends if you don't mind mister hat' Harry thought back. "Loyalty too it seems you could make a fine puff too, yes standing up to bully's for your friends is brave too I suppose you could make you a" "Gryffindor" the hat announced to the hole room. Harry slowly got up and walked to a space on the Gryffindor table the hat had given him a lot to think about 'where did that information on mind reading come from' he thought as he sat down across from Neville and Hermione.

So it went on as the pool of students was whittled down to just the last remaining few a Ron Weasley joined Gryffindor to loud applause and cat calling from what must be his brothers having matching bright red hair and Blaze Zabini joined Slytherin. As the applause died down the man in the center of the staff table with a Technicolour robe on stood to make a speech "now as I can see your all ravenous ill save the speeches until after your all fed and watered, now eat up" he said raising his hands as the tables filled with all different kinds of food.

Harry who hadn't really had much to eat today having to leave number four early with his uncle and only haven't a few sweets stowing the rest in his chest for later, was ravenous and the roast chicken not far from him looked particularly succulent and juicy getting a few slices off the side of the plate for his own he watched as a knight materialized and cut some more slices to replace the ones he had taken. Having filled his plate Harry was eager to engage in conversation with his new friends. But before he could an almost transparent head came thought the table and greeted "Sir Nicholas, ghost of Gryffindor at your service". Sooner than he had expected dinner was over and conversation was winding down.

Dumbledore stood and began "now I have a few start of term announcements, first that the forbidden forest is as its name suggests both a forest and forbidden students both new and returning would do well do remember that. Second this year the third for corridor in the north wing is out of bounds to all those value their life. Finally mister Filch our caretaker has asked me to remind students that magic in the hallways is forbidden and a full list of banned items can be found on his office door. Now after such a long day I'm sure your all tuckered out so if prefects will lead the first years to their new homes I'll let you all get some much deserved rest."

At this one of the older red head boys from further down the table stood and moved towards the first years "hello, I" he paused presumably to make himself heard "am Percy Weasley and I am the fifth year prefect and while I can't give out detentions I can remove points, be assured that if I catch you causing trouble I will deduct points even though you're in Gryffindor. Now follow me" he said with such a poppas tone that Harry was sure he thought the prefect position was but the first step on the road to world domination.

The group of first years followed Percy up several flights of stair cases that Harry spotted moving across the stair well and down long corridors from one stair well to another. Harry was quickly beginning to get the idea of just how huge Hogwarts really was. After what seemed like forever with all the stairs the first years arrived huffing and puffing at a portrait of a fat lady wearing a poufy pink dress with a large clear glass of wine. "Password" the painting asked "this terms password is Fortuna Major do not forget it and do not give it out to members of other houses the password will be changed after the winter holidays" Percy said. As he said the password the portrait swung open to reveal an arch way leading to the cosiest room Harry had ever seen.

"this is the Gryffindor common room it is the place where you will lightly spend most of your free time while at Hogwarts we have desks for homework and a social corner for quiet conversation over here, announcements and notices from clubs and school staff will be posted on this notice board here. Now curfew is at 10pm weekdays and 11pm on weekend's students must return to the common room before then. These stairs lead to the dormitories, boys on the left and girls on the right first years are on the first floor now if you would like to go find the beds with your belongings by them this concludes my responsibility for you, good night". By this time Harry was absolutely sure of two things he hated Percy's voice and that Percy loved to hear himself speak.

Finding the bed with his chest at the foot with Archimedes perched in his cage on the bedside table, harry gave him a treat from inside his chest. Harry realised it had indeed been a long day and decided that he would get an early night. "I'm gonna get some sleep guys I'll see you in the morning before we go down for breakfast okay, night" Harry said receiving ether nods or grunts in return and a "yea me too I'm shattered" from a dark skinned lad in a thick Yorkshire accent. Climbing into bed Harry was asleep before he could think how much more comfy this bed was than his old mattress in the cupboard at number four.

(A.N. ive tried to keep the dialog to thing I think people might actually say or think rather than just having them talk for the sake of explaining plot I'm not sure if I'm getting the balance right between whats happening and dialog I'm never sure where to interrupt dialog for actions like Dumbledore standing up and motioning at things while he talks I'm also never sure about sentence length and when to brake paragraphs I've been trying to keep with braking them when topics or scenes change but I can't be sure it's not coming across as huge blocks of texts any tips or advice on this is welcome)


	4. First Impressions

Chapter 4 – First impressions

When Harry woke the next morning it was from dreams of Green lightning, passing it off as just a wired dream feeling better rested than he had in his entire life he began the morning ritual heading to the bathroom at the back of the dorm. Returning freshly showered Harry got dressed realising the others probably wouldn't wake for some time yet it was unlikely any of them had to regularly get up early to cook for their relatives, he went about getting his backpack ready making sure his ink was securely capped not knowing what lessons he had he figured after he got his time table he could return and get the books. By this time the coloured boy from last night had begun to stir "morning" Harry greeted with a perfunctory nod "Harry" he finished. "Uurgheh to early" the boy answered back, "Let them know I've gone down for breakfast when you wake up mate" he requested. "yeah" the as yet unidentified boy muffled into his pillow Harry left with a little smile on his face at the behaviour.

Reaching the common room he was met by Hermione all ready at a desk in the corner rereading the standard book of spells grade one. "hi you used to getting up early too?" he asked, looking up from the book for the first time since he had entered the room with a bit of a start Hermione said "oh, what, hmm yea normally get the milk and the paper for my parents from the shop so I can spend a bit of time with them before they have to go to work." Not asking why he was up knowing if he had been doing the dishes at 6 that had probably evolved into other chores too. "wanna join me for breakfast I was just about to head down hopefully we can find out what classes we have so we don't have to carry every book today?" he asked offering his hand and hoping he wouldn't look like a total spanner being the only one in the great hall eating breakfast. "Sure" she said taking his hand.

In the great hall fifteen minutes later we find an out of breath pair of preteens "phew I tell ya what that many stairs at least four times a day for seven years at least we will be fit by the time we are done here" Harry puffed out between breaths. "yea but I think next time I'll make sure I have my books on me for the day I'm not looking forward to going back to get our books " Hermione reminded him. "urgh yea forgot about that, I'm gonna get some scrambled egg on toast" Harry said reaching for a plate before sitting down and starting on his breakfast.

Professor McGonagall noticing some of her students had arrived early this morning got up from the staff table and moved down towards her new lions "miss Granger, mister Potter" she greeted "what brings you hear so early?" "we wanted to get our timetables professor so we didn't have to carry all our books today" Hermione answered for Harry his mouth being full of egg at the moment. "oh well here you got then two first year timetables" she said tapping a piece of parchment for each of them with her wand before retreating to the staff table. "Well at least it says where to find the class rooms not that its much help look here transfiguration 9:00am east wing second floor north corridor" Harry said. "I'm sure we will find it just fine Harry stop complaining" Hermione chastised.

Having retuned to the common room Harry and Hermione were greeted with a cacophony of noise apparently the rest of the house had woke up. Parting with a nod Harry went to the dorm to get his books, wand and bag "hey guys, I'm back, got our timetable seems we have transfiguration and history today if you wanna grab your books before breakfast" he informed his roommates to general murmurs of thanks.

sitting and chatting with his roommates over their breakfast he had finally learned their names Dean being the coloured boys name apparently he was a muggleborn or at least he thought so never having met his dad he lived with his mother and she had been as surprised as he when he got the letter. Seamus was apparently a half-blood his parents had moved to England to avoid religious persecution in Ireland when his mother told his father she was a witch; he had already managed to blow up a plate trying to reheat his bacon. Ron Weasley for his final roommate apparently he had quite a large family five older brothers and one younger sister whom he told Harry she had a big crush on, his youngest older brothers, the twins had been pointed out to the group and everyone told to avoid them as they are terrible pranksters.

Heading up to transfiguration with Neville to give the others chance to finish their breakfast without him interrupting them all the time they managed to find the class room after only getting lost once the paintings on the wall where quite helpful. Neville had stopped to ask for directions from a group of bald monks and while they had given directions it was a little hard to understand what they were saying as they all seemed to be drunk but then they were painted with a winery. Managing to get there on time they took positions next to Hermione. "So have you talked to the other girls in your dorm yet, the guys seem all right?" Harry asked. "No, not yet they seem to already know each other truth be told they kept me up a bit last night with their talk of robes and boys." Hermione answered a bit dejected, she had thought that perhaps there would be some girls at Hogwarts she could be friends with and while Lavender and Parvati didn't seem like bad people she didn't think she had anything in common with them. "I've not heard of a Brown family but I know of the Patil's so perhaps they met on the train." Neville supplied.

The room nearly full now and it almost time for the lessons to begin people started noticing a cat on the des at the front of the classroom "how long's that cat been there?" Harry asked upon noticing it for the first time. Hermione looking up from her transfiguration text said "dunno never noticed it till you said". With hat he last few stragglers arrived "phew made it." Harry heard what could only have been Ron pant out as the cat that had been sitting like a statue on the desk for the last two minutes jumped off and mid-flight transformed into professor McGonagall. "Wow that was amazing" Ron said in awe many of the class clearly thought likewise from their expressions. "Be that as It may mister Weasley in future you will be on time to my classroom, am I clear?" McGonagall said. "Yes mam, we're sorry we got lost" dean answered for the group receiving a nod from the professor as they sat down.

"Transfiguration is an extremely delicate art and it is an art as no two students work would be the same if I asked them to transfigure a table cloth. As such I expect everyone to treat it with the respect it deserves; a mistake in this subject can make the difference between a kitten and a tiger. So if I see anyone misbehaving or messing about you will be in detention faster than you can quidditch do I make myself clear? Today we will be reading the first chapter of your text books and attempting a simple piece of transfiguration so open your books and begin once you have finished put your hand up and let me know and I will give you a demonstration before lunch now as an incentive those who finish today get no homework" almost as soon as she finished hearing that they wouldn't get homework or more lightly that they would if they didn't finish all the students opened their books.

Twenty minutes later several hands where in the air "right then class those who haven't finished reading the chapter just yet please pay attention for now the transfiguration we will be preforming today is this" she said taking out a match from her desk draw. Taking out her wand she flicked it at the match and said "abeo" and the match transformed into a sowing needle. "This spell abeo performed with a flick of your wand at the desired object, it can be used on any small object to transfigure it into and other small object of similar complexity. This means no turning matches into silk robes the spell isn't powerful enough and would likely result in an explosion your magic overpowering the spell. We are starting with matches to needle because it is easier to visualise the change between two similar objects than it is for a very different ones say a plate and kettle. Now those of you who have finished please come and collect a match and you may try the spell."

Hermione was first up being that she had finished reading the chapter twice already and was eager to show to herself that she belonged here returning with 3 matches one for Harry and Neville each she handed them out. Not long after the class dissolved into shouts of "abeo" and "arboe" and many other mispronunciations of the spell. Harry sat there looking at his match holding his wand in his left hand he could feel his magic but when he tried the spell "abeo" nothing happened, confused, annoyed and a bit disappointed he tried to figure out what he had done wrong. He could feel his magic in his chest waiting to respond but when he had said the spell it hadn't tickled down his arm as he was used to it doing when he had done the dishes or the gardening. 'Perhaps I have to move it myself with these spells' he thought. Squinting and looking at his arm as he tried to will the magic to move down it he could feel it moving but not as fast as he had wanted he changed his target concentrating on moving his magic to his wand instead of thought his arm and like a shot that was it he could feel his magic trickle into his wand, flicking it at the match and saying "abeo" again he was shocked this time when it didn't change at all he had felt the magic drain from the spell and everything. That's when he realised he hadn't asked the magic to do anything other than leave his wand and move at the match trying again this time concentrating on the magic going to his wand and on a needle "abeo" he said with a flick pleased with his result this time of getting a needle like McGonagall's.

"look here everyone mister Potters done it and so quick too, how did you manage that so fast mister Potter perhaps you could help the rest of the class?" McGonagall said upon seeing his needle. "Errm, nothing much professor I just imagined the needle flicked my wand at it and said the word but I forgot to imagine the change the first couple of times professor." Harry answered a bit bewildered at all the attention from everyone staring at him. "Very well done Mister Potter. That is the key to all good transfiguration after all. Having an image of what you want your transfiguration to look like will nine times out of ten get you the desired results, providing the spell is powerful enough to support the required magic. Now mister potter perhaps you could try for some different types of needle or help out your friends for the rest of the lesson oh and 5 points to Gryffindor." For the rest of the lesson harry helped Neville with the spell Hermione had refused saying she was almost there herself and indeed she was as she was next to get a needle. Neville however had trouble even by the end of the lesson he hadn't managed a needle oh he had gotten a thin metal spike but no loop for thread, Professor McGonagall had attributed it to insufficient detail in his mental image and encouraged him to keep trying. Harry meanwhile had managed to make a small fishhook and a tiny little javelin out of his match before returning it to its original form at the end of the lesson having earned Gryffindor another five points.

Quite pleased with his progress after class Harry took a few minutes to himself before lunch to think about his magic it had been different then at number four he hadn't really stretched his magic out to the needle or even felt it do so once it reached his wand it hadn't felt like he was in control of it any more. This realisation as small as it may seem was key to Harrys understanding of wands and what they did for everyone else by now he was certain others didn't have as much control over their magic as he did and couldn't control their magic once it left their body's normally. He wasn't even sure if others could feel it within themselves. Not sure how to broach the subject with his new friends without ether sounding like an idiot or like some sort of new age Merlin he decided to hope one of them brought it up. 'so a wand must be like a steering wheel and a go pedal all in one for those that can't move their magic themselves' harry thought 'that's why when I moved the magic strait to the wand instead of down my arm the wand took over where the magic needed to go with the flick' he concluded. This little thought though it was small was all he needed for figuring out how to do most of the listed spells in the books though it wasn't much help with his wandless magic as the wand seemed to hold the magic while the spell converted it to its purpose before being launched. Were as without a wand harry had always enshrouded the objects with magic from their never trying to change the magic once it had left his body other than to move it.

Meeting up with Neville and Hermione for lunch Harry said "hi, that was pretty interesting for a first lesson ey?"."yea I just wish managed to get the spell down now I have to practice till I get it right and hand in five inches of parchment on visualisation of my needle and how that effects the casting" moaned Neville. "Well I for one thought it quite informative professor McGonagall clearly knows her subject and has a passion for it" added Hermione.

Getting to the history classroom they found a ghost hovering at the front of the room to witch Neville whispered "are we in the right room?" "We are according to that knight we passed on the stairs maybe he is in the wrong classroom?" Harry replied with a shrug. "Professor Binns?" Hermione questioned the ghost. "Yes young lady" he replied in a board aristocratic sounding voice, "er nothing professor sorry I was just making sure we were in the right place sir" she said. Finding a seat with Harry and Neville, who had already decided to sit at the back for this lesson? Students began to filter in many also clearly confused at the ghost being at the front till they saw the other students in the room.

Once professor Binns had decided the class was all there a good five minutes after it actually was he began what could only have been a prepared speech about the history of magic not being what happened but about what exams ask and what answers they expect to see. Harry thought 'that's probably why book seemed to be full of goblin rebellions and names of important ministers despite having not done anything to warrant a mention. Perhaps it's best if I look up some history on my own time as this is clearly going to be about passing an exam and not about learning about where magic comes from or what wizards did in the past' still it didn't stop him from listening to what he had decided was the most boring ghost in existence nor did it stop him wondering if the professor had killed anyone from shear boredom.

During tea Harry bought this up with the others "I've been thinking since Bins is clearly only interested and I use that word very loosely in teaching us what we need to know to pass our exams and no actual history do you two wanna do some research ourselves once things settle down a bit?" Hermione answered for the both of them before Neville could swallow or respond to the question "that's a fantastic idea Harry I want to know about famous witches who did great things thought history, but Binns seemed to imply that history of magic lessons are more of a propaganda service than a place of learning." Hermione said both excited and concerned.

Later they were in the common room talking about tomorrows lessons "I'm really looking forward to potions tomorrow, it's about the only class where we learn to make things that are actually useful in real life. I mean yea I know its first year and stuff but in potions there aren't really any useless potions so everything you make could be used for something" harry said with enthusiasm in his voice. "I dunno Harry I was talking to Seamus yesterday and he said his mother said Snape Is a right evil git, especially to Gryffindor's" cautioned Neville adding the final few words to his homework for McGonagall. "Surely he can't be that bad he is a professor after all and potions is a dangerous subject if he is as bad as you say how can he expect people to learn, I'm sure its all hearsay and nonsense" Hermione interjected "besides I'm looking forward to defence against the dark arts" she continued much more excitedly. "Well I guess we will find out tomorrow" surmised Harry.

The next day was full of disappointment first for Hermione in defence against the dark arts when the teacher who introduced himself as "p-p-p Pro-f-fessor Q-q-quirrell" appeared to be scared of his own shadow never mind the dark arts. He had a stutter that made it difficult to even follow what he was saying with every third word lasting three times longer than it should. Not to mention the headache Harry had by the end of the lesson not that they had learned much only that most spells do harm when launched come in streams of light and the best defence is to not be there when it hits. They probably would have covered more but it was such slow going both understanding what the professor had said and waiting for him to seemingly pluck up the courage to start his next sentence. "eurgh, I think I'm gonna hate defence against the dark arts, that room stinks of garlic it must be hanging for nearly every suffice in there, it gave me a headache" Harry complained rubbing his forehead and temples. Even Hermione complained "that was so frustrating, I thought it would at least explain what the dark arts are or why they are indeed dark but it's like it's just going to be a class on dodging coloured lights all year. He didn't even mention using magic in the course aims for the year. This is pathetic" Hermione huffed.

The three of them sat thought quite a subdued dinner continuing to complain about Quirrell and defence against the dark arts. "Maybe we should ask some of the older years if we learn any actual magic in defence against the dark arts" Neville suggested. "Good idea nev, I'll find someone to ask in the common room later let's get ready for potions" harry said.

Finding their way to the dungeons where potions was held they found a large group of students mostly wearing Green trimmed robes queued up outside the classroom waiting for it to begin it seemed they would be sharing potions lessons with the Slytherin's. Not long after queuing up with the others a man with dark greasy hair and a prominent hooked nose swept past them 'drama queen' harry thought in passing. "Well, what are you waiting for get in and find a seat" the man said clearly annoyed they hadn't done so automatically on his arrival. When they had gotten to their seats the professor began, "Silence, I am Professor Snape Hogwarts Potion master and I won't tolerate any messing about or misbehaviour. Should I catch you doing so you will lose both house points and find yourself scrubbing out cauldrons till your fingers are raw. Now potions is a difficult and dangerous subject that has very little flashy wand waving as such I expect many of you will scarcely believe it is indeed magic it requires a firm disposition and a steady hand, but if you master it there is little that cannot be accomplished with the right brew . much of the healing arts involves the use of potions and even the most obscure potion can save a life but even the smallest mistake can turn an antidote into a poison or a cure to a curse so when I wright down the instructions on the board you will follow them precisely, failure to do so will lightly result in explosions, ruined potions, and melted cauldrons but it will certainly result in detentions." Snape spoke from the front of the classroom to the rapt attention of the class.

"Potter" the professor called, Harry's head snapping to attention as he did "where would you like if I asked you to find me a bezoar?" he finished. "The stomach of a goat sir" Harry answered remembering a passage from his potions book. "Idiot boy do you see any goats in the classroom, 5 points from Gryffindor for not using your head. I asked because a bezoar is a powerful absorbing stone that will save you from most poisons including many fumes from potions, as such there is a supply in every competent potion masters emergency healing cabinet mine is located on the wall behind my desk. The rest of you remember that for when one of you undoubtedly poison's themselves. Now today we will be going over safety in the potions class room since mister Potter has demonstrated a clear lack of even the most basic safety concerns everyone remember to thank him later." So it continued for the rest of the lesson Snape singling out Harry for questions he must have known weren't covered in the potions book or the herbs and fungi book and taking points, by the end of the lesson Gryffindor was 25 points down and Harry didn't like potions any more.

"He hates me I'm telling you" harry was saying to Neville and Hermione once they had got to the common room later in the evening. "I'm sure it's just your imagination Harry he was just trying to get the point across about safety in the potions room" Hermione chastised. "you're not getting it Hermione you could tell the way he looked at me it was like how you look at the dog crap you didn't notice you stepped in till after have." "now I know your just being silly he didn't look at you like that at all your just upset he gave you more homework than everyone else." Hermione said. "Be fair Hermione 9 extra inches on common potions mishaps and how to avoid making them is a bit harsh" Neville said helping harry out a bit.

Tomorrow was charms and herbology 'excellent', Harry thought 'I've been doing both of those for ages this should be a doddle, I mean it can't be that different from gardening and charming the dishes to do themselves right'. He couldn't be more surprised to find out just how different herbology was from gardening the next morning oh he had read the books but they just don't give the right impression of scale when dealing with magical plants the look a lot like normal ones only bigger and more active. As it came round herbology was first it was being held in the greenhouses behind the west wing court yard on the south side when group arrived there Harry and Hermione noticed several greenhouses as they knew them but then some others that seemed to be made of shaded glass, "why are those greenhouses dark?" Harry asked aloud to anyone willing to answer, supprisingly it was Neville that did "oh those, we have one of those back home they are called shadehouses, they are for plants that don't like too much light and grow in places like swamps. You know things like devils snare and atropa belladonna, dead useful for potion ingredients."

Not long after this explanation a short stout woman wearing a gardening apron and gloves approached from the direction of the castle "hello class I am professor Sprout, today we will be having a short tour of the first year green house and I will be introducing you to each of the plants you will be learning how to care for, harvest without damaging and how to cultivate your own cuttings of each. Now please make sure that for future lessons everyone brings their dragon hide gloves wouldn't want anyone getting hurt now would we" she said kindly before sliding open the door to greenhouse one. Harry was surprised to see the size of it inside the greenhouse at first he had thought he had shrunk, the size of the plants with them towering over them even the windows seemed bigger than they should be. He could barely make out the other end of the greenhouse though all of the foliage. Professor sprout led them though the class introducing them to several plants some with teeth. All in all Harry thought while it wasn't exactly what he was expecting it was definitely a good lesson and he learned a fair bit even if they didn't do any actual gardening today.

In charms later that day it turned out professor Flitwick as he introduced himself was a very practical teacher similar to McGonagall but a bit friendlier seeming, perhaps it was his short stature making him seem less intimidating not that the class misbehaved though. He had started them out with a very simple spell after a short introduction he had them casting the "lumos" spell showing them it was just a point motion with the wand to produce a torch like light. Harry pushed the magic to his wand and said "lumos" quite surprised it worked needing no visualisation or thought of what the spell was going to do. Perhaps because of the lack of any special requirements for this everyone managed it with the first half of the lesson and professor Flitwick went on to detail how some charms could be modified with prefixes and suffixes at the start and end of the spell. He demonstrated this with "lumos solem" a sunlight spell the light from the end of his wand being a much less obtrusive light than before seeming less like a torch and more illuminating and with "palus lumos", creating a pale light ideal for reading by at night as an example of each. Surprisingly many of the class had trouble with these and ended up preforming the standard lumos instead professor Flitwick didn't seem to expect them to get this first time and asked them to practice it as well as 6 inches on common prefixes and suffixes and how they affect spells.

The rest of the week followed with more lessons of a similar nation the only exception being potions where they got to actually make a potion. Harry discovered the main difference between potions and cooking was in the details, where in cooking you can generally use a different cut of meat to make the same recipe, how you cut the ingredients affected how potent the potion would be at completion. Having had plenty of experience using sharp knifes in the kitchen of number four he had no trouble cutting the odd shaped roots and strange organs 'very little different from preparing meat and vegetables' he thought. Neville and Hermione weren't fearing quite as well in fact most of the class weren't harry attributed this to them being squeamish about holding the organs firmly for the cut, squeeze or crush they required. In the actual cooking, because he couldn't think what else heating up edible organic things would be called it was essentially the same as cooking on the hob needing ether constant stirring or a stir in the opposite direction every so often he wasn't sure if the "one turn counter clockwise every fourth stir" instruction on the board was simply to change the current in the stew or some sort of magically significant part of the process. He hadn't felt the magic in his chest move for the entire process so he assumed it to be somewhat superfluous and that the magic in the potion was quite rightly all in the ingredients. It hadn't all gone well though Snape had been hovering around behind him trying to put him off and almost as soon as he moved on something put the fire out under his cauldron, he was quick to relight it though so no harm done.

On Saturday Harry was exploring the castle alone having left Neville and Hermione in the library thinking about his lessons this week. 'Charms was definitely fun, and I like professor Flitwick but I could stand a bit more detail everything just seemed to be direct effects from my wand no making objects do things I mean that is charms right' the thought passing an odd painting of some trolls dancing. 'Transfiguration seems to be the most complex use of my magic here, for now at least McGonagall is ok I guess, she did give me points for catching on so quickly turning into a cat was pretty cool too' he thought stopping at a window with a view of the grounds and forest. 'Herbology is nothing like I thought it would be, I mean who would have thought plants needed a good beating to stele down and grow right every six months that's just plain strange. Potions would be great if it wasn't for Snape the man is out to get me I'm sure I don't care what Hermione says. At least the homework he gives helps understand the work some I mean I never would have known the direction of the slice mattered otherwise, he's still an ass though.' Sighing moving away from the window and down some stairs as he thought 'I just wish defence wasn't so useless the stuttering wonder wants us to spend the entire first term dodging it's an absolute joke it doesn't help that he seemed to pick the class furthest from the great hall, so I'm already tiered by the time I get there. It stinks too the garlic is giving me a headache every time I'm in the room at least other than dodging there isn't much I need to concentrate on. At least the twins said it picks up a bit later'. Passing a statue with a patch over one eye and the strangest hair-do he had ever seen he thought 'history is soo boring I used to love history in primary with all that stuff about Vikings and Egyptians but this was just so dull it seemed to be just a list of witch goblin killed witch wizard on witch day and vice versa nothing about how wizards lived back then' with that he had something of an epiphany 'of course that's it they haven't changed the way they live in hundreds of years why would they think its history, damn I'm stupid'. Passing by the two redheads as they gave him a "shhh" and a wink obviously setting something up involving the cupboard they were fiddling with he thought about he had learned from the hat 'it won't do me any good to see someone's entire life story in a few seconds nor will it to know what they thought at every moment of their life up to that, if learning everything about maths from my teacher put me in a coma learning everything about a person would probably kill me. There has got to be something in between though I'll just have to have a proper look in the library at some point'.

Aboe – latin for change (they are simply demanding with magic that the object change hence the need for a visualisation of what they want it to change into.

Lumos – I'm assuming if its not direct latin its some bastarisation of it knowing they measure light intensity in lumins assuming it means light is why I didn't require any visualisation for this spell.

(A.N. I said what did about defence because the trio in both the movies and the books didn't seem to learn a single spell in datda until third year I would attribute almost all spells they used until then to charms patrficus totalus was cast by draco and I imigain it to be something his father taught him it being a relatively simple curse I also imiagine it not to have been the first time it was used on Neville and that Hermione had looked up its counter of her own accord in the library)

(A.N I mentioned what I did about potions because even teachers that where an ass when I was in school genraly had a purpse for the questions they asked doing this gives him a genuine reason to be an ass when peoples couldrens explode and what not. With the deadly nightshade I realise its not particular to swamps but I couldn't find anything magicy sounding that did)

(A.N. I feel I'm using things like he said she said , thought and what not too often any tips in avoiding these while it still being clear who is and isn't thinking talking and what not would be appreciated


	5. Fools and Flying

Chapter 5 – Fools and Flying

It was well into the second week of term and things where beginning to settle into a routine now for Harry and his friends and so it is we find harry in the library with a match in a corner behind a book case early Saturday morning. He had been trying for the last hour to turn the match to a needle without his wand stubbornly without any hint of success he couldn't figure out what his magic had done once it left his wand and so couldn't replicate it without it. He had tried filling the match with magic and saying the spell with the correct thought in mind but all that had resulted in was a much burned match he had even tried like with his animated dishwashing filling them full of magic and demanding it change its self but it stubbornly remained a match. So focused was harry with this he hadn't noticed Hermione appear in the stacks looking for a book spot him and begin to move over, when his match caught fire again he heard a gasp behind him. Turning to spot Hermione with a shocked expression on her face.

"What did you see?" he demanded shortly.

"y-your match, but, but you didn't use a wand" she said both a little scared and annoyed.

"It didn't work any way it was supposed to change into a needle not set on fire" he sighed.

"How did you notice me though, you're not supposed to be able to." He questioned.

"Well that's silly why wouldn't I?" she questioned back.

"Normally when I practice I make it so no one can notice that I'm doing magic it stops my family from getting in the way or making a fuss." Harry finished thinking he was giving away more than he had intended.

"What do you mean practice, you mean you have done magic before Hogwarts, more than just accidently I mean". She said getting quite excited now.

"look it's not a big deal or anything I mean I just noticed how once I did something when I was running from my cousin and there wasn't much of a chance of it being anything else, it's not like I can do much just make things move about how I want them and make myself unnoticeable and I can teleport." Harry said finishing off very quickly and quietly.

"WHAT do you mean it's not a big deal this is huge Harry" Hermione practically shouted.

"SHHHHhhhh, tell the whole world why don't you, I don't want people knowing I can do this" Harry shushed her.

"sorry but what do you expect wandless magic is rare Harry, I could only find even a few mentions of it in famous witches and wizards of the 20th century just Dumbledore and V-Voldemort." She whispered exacerbated.

"I don't see why it's not really hard or anything most of what I've done seems easier than wand magic to be honest its just a matter of stretching your magic out and wanting it to do something, yea I can't do transfiguration yet but charms are easy watch" he said showing her how he could make the quill write for him.

"That's amazing Harry, You've got to teach me please. I'll be your friend forever." She said practically bouncing at the thought as harry laughed at the site it reminding him oddly of Dudley outside of a sweet shop once.

"Ok ok calm down shhh, look I'll try and teach you how to do it but I can really only do basic things I haven't even managed the light spell from charms or the match to needle thing yet. But clearly this place isn't as safe as I thought it was and if my ignore me spell thing isn't working here then we are gonna have to find some place more private to practice in before we can do anything. Can I trust you not to tell anyone until then please?" Harry said in a bit of a panic trying to keep Hermione from alerting others to his skills.

"Sure Harry, but where are we gonna practice" Hermione said a bit calmer now Harry had agreed to show her how.

"I dunno yet, let's explore the castle some more this weekend and see if we can find some place to practice it can't be that hard to find in a castle this big surely" Harry said thinking of the rooms he had passed last week while thinking. Packing up the ruined matches and other things into his bag as he wasn't going to be practicing till he ether found a private space or found out why his ignore me aura wasn't working. He said "let's go get something to eat I'm starved".

Finding Neville in the great hall at dinner and a lot more chatter than they had been used to at meal times Harry asked.

"What's going on everyone seems talkative today?"

"didn't you see it was on the notice board sign up's for flying lessons for next weekend, I mean most magic family's let their children fly from about 6 or 7 you know. Normally on a little practice broom but it helps none the less before they get on a proper broom. Gran wouldn't let me though you know afraid I was a squib n all that or id hurt myself I was forever falling off chairs or down stairs at that age." Neville replied.

"Wow harsh man so if all of the magic family's let their kids on brooms before Hogwarts what's all the noise about?" Harry asked again.

"You need to show the professors at Hogwarts that you know how to fly properly before they will let you bring your own broom next year, its why first years are band from bringing their own brooms." Neville said filling in the blanks for harry and Hermione receiving a nod in return.

"Thanks nev." Harry said turning to grab some tuna sandwiches.

"Wanna come exploring with me and Harry after lunch?" Hermione said after finishing off her own sandwiches.

"Cool what are we looking for like?" He asked before putting the last of the chicken on his plate in his mouth.

"Just somewhere quiet and private to practice magic madam Pince didn't look too pleased at me practicing in the library." Harry offered before Hermione could.

"I know what you mean I was just doing my homework for transfiguration last week and she was giving me this right funny look, I mean where else am I supposed to do my homework but the library?" Neville sympathized.

Another week of lessons passed by and they had learned how to transform small round buttons into small square pieces of card and how to create a potion to protect hair from noxious potion fumes. The group had all signed up for the flying lessons. Hermione and Neville getting increasingly agitated as the week had gone on finally Harry snapped and asked Hermione what was her problem was.

"Hermione what's going on you've been snapping at me and Nev more and more as the week's gone on?" Harry said.

"I'm scared Harry I don't know why I signed up for these stupid flying lessons" Hermione said nearly braking out into tears.

"It'll be fine Hermione I'm sure you've gotta face these things or you'll never get over it I'm sure we'll take it slow I can't imagine we will be doing anything too fancy its most peoples first time on a broom after all." Harry tried to reassure her.

"I know what you mean Hermione but it's all right the more nervous you are the more lightly the chance of accidental magic, it's quite common with broom falls for that to be one of the first few cases of accidental magic with kids." Neville said trying to help and trying to calm himself down too. Hermione was a little relieved at that herself thinking about it a bit more it didn't make sense that they would just let you fall to your death or that they would ask you to do any crazy acrobatics from those quidditch flying books she'd read.

As they stepped out onto the north field where they would be taking their flying lessons they were interrupted by the instructor a short woman with sharp facial features that harry thought reminded him a little of a hawk or some other bird of prey he couldn't quit make up his mind.

"my name is Rolanda Hooch you may address me Madam Hooch and only Madam Hooch if I so much as hear a whisper of one of those nicknames those infuriating Weasley twins have for me you will be in detention faster than you can say quidditch. Now I want you to separate in to two groups those who have at least some experience with flying and those without, flying on my left without on my right." She said indicating a row of broom no one had noticed before either side of her.

"now I don't believe in wasting time so we will get right down to it those who can fly if you can prove you can do it well enough not to kill yourselves in some fool attempt at showing off I will pass you today otherwise you will remain with the rest of the group till at least the end of this term when I allow for another testing. I want all those who haven't flown before to watch those that have to get some idea of how it works now flyers follow me to the course." She continued.

Following the group of smug looking first years Harry noticed it included Ron, Draco and a few other faces Harry had yet to put names to mainly boys apparently flying wasn't as popular with the girls at young ages. They arrived at an obstacle course that consisted of large bronze rings floating in the air about 5 feet from the ground with large wooden circles slowly rotating past them and a glowing yellow line passing through them all leading to a checked glowing area at the other end of the field, Harry was briefly reminded of a minute golf course and windmills when he first saw it.

"Now I assume you can all guess the purpose of the obstacles in front of us. I want the flyers to line up you will each get two attempts to get your time from start to finish of this little course under 45 seconds. I don't want any accidents so no showing off just the course please right you first mister…?"She said leaving it open for the student to answer.

"Malfoy Madam" he replied as though she should have already known. He strode confidently to the start position broom in hand he mounted it and Hooch blow a whistle from around her neck. He didn't rocket of so much as fly with as much grace as an elven year old can manage it was clearly practiced he sat on his broom as a noble would a horse not leaning into his turns or forwards into his acceleration and yet he was still quite fast managing to finish in a neat 40 seconds with a quiet dignity he obviously felt befitting of the Malfoy name.

So it went on Hooch calling up each of those that had experience of flying to do the course most of them managed first time only one had to try a second time. Ron had tried to emulate Malfoy sitting upright instead of with the broom and because of that he had been much slower than he was on his second attempt by a full 10 seconds.

"right now each of those that flew you may see me in my office in the castle later you may use the rest of this lesson as you see fit but I do not expect to see you misbehaving and if you intend to fly please stay within the charmed field." She said indicating with her arm the outside of the training area.

"Everyone else follow me" she finished walking imiditly off to an empty area of the field near where they had started.

"I assume everyone noticed mister Malfoy and Mister wheezly acting the idots they are with their flying. Now what I want to begin with is just to get you all used to sitting on a broom before we deal with any actual piloting of your broom we will begin by learning to call your broom to you. Once you get more accustom to using a broom you can just throw it into the air and mount it but that is a little more advanced than I want to start you so brooms on the floor next to you. Once there extend your arm and command up, don't be worried if it doesn't work at first you just need a little practice" she instructed the remainder of the class.

Harry shuffled next to Hermione and Neville and whispered to Hermione "Draco and Ron looked like right arses flying like that."

Hermione snickered and Neville overhearing, snorted in response. Extending his left arm over the broom Harry commanded "up" the broom whizzed strait into his hand with a slap it almost stung with the force oddly Harry felt absolutely no pull from his magic 'humph, wonder what that means the way Neville was going on I got the impression those without magic couldn't fly brooms perhaps it's just the summoning didn't require it' he thought.

Looking around from his own little world Harry noticed his friends struggling not really knowing how to help he just rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment at the jealous look he got from Hermione and turned away to avoid it. Back in his own little world he began wondering how brooms where made perhaps the drew their magic from something other than the wizard or witch using them he would have to ask madam Hooch at the end of the lesson he thought .

Seeing everyone had managed to get the broom to respond to them after a few attempts Madam Hooch said "right now I want you to mount your broom and sit in this position so that your weight is centred above your knees" she said demonstrating as she did so.

It looked simple to Harry not thinking about it at all he just got onto his broom and leaned into the position she demonstrated not even thinking about how the broom went from being held up by him to holding him up. Looking round this was obviously a point others were struggling with especially Hermione she seemed not to be able to trust the broom to hold her to take her second foot off the ground. Neville had managed though but he wasn't sitting as steadily as Harry wobbling every now and then.

Madam Hooch hovered over to where Hermione was still struggling to get her feet off the ground drew her wand and shot a very light stinging hex at Hermione's heavy foot. With a gasp she jumped as if trying to escape from the stinging in her foot and the broom took over leaving her hovering in the right position.

"There you go Miss Granger just needed a little jump start is all" Madam Hooch said with a deceptively friendly smile on her face. Hooch floated back to a central position amongst the class as Hermione grumbled to herself about sadistic bird teachers.

"now that your all sat on your brooms I want you to try adjusting your positions a little lean forward or back pull up or push down always remember that returning to the position you are in now will bring you to a stationary hover so don't panic, try small movements at first." Hooch instructed.

Trying these movements Harry thought they were both pretty self-evident what would happen with each and also quite natural except leaning back with their being nothing there to lean back into, fortunately brooms are made with this in mind and are always slanted up a little when hovering so that when you lean back you can't lean far while your hands are on the shaft of the broom. While he had been testing his own broom and rose to around 20 he still hadn't noticed any drain in his magic. Flying not being the normal state of little boys Harry knew magic was involved but he could also feel none of his own being used so however the broom works the wizard isn't the source of its magic he concluded before returning to hovering just off the floor with the rest of the class.

"you've all done very well this lesson class I hope to see you all next week when I will teach you about turning and then I'll let you have a little free roam time on the brooms like the others did this week. Now please dismount your brooms."

Dismounting his broom Harry approached Madam Hooch with his broom still in hand and asked. "Madam Hooch how do brooms work, I mean what powers them is it a spell or a charm or something else?"

"Broom creation Mister Potter is a closely guarded secret by the family's that run several broom companies or at least the specifics are anyway its widely known that the main component is runes this is what powers the enchantment on the broom the enchantment its self however varies from company to company most of the newer ones use spells for the added accuracy they can get on without large service area to inscribe runes with there not being much space on a broom to do so a few of the older companies still use runes though how they fit the amount needed onto a broom I've no idea" she explained to Harry and a very interested Hermione eavesdropping behind him.

"Thank you, professor." Harry thanked her.

Later in the common room while Harry was reading a book on transfiguration to see if he could find out why he couldn't do it wandless he noticed a crowd gathered around the fire. Walking over he heard.

"You're not going to believe us but it's true."

"Look I know we are always playing pranks but I swear it's true."

"yea, well any way when we were getting some food from the kitchens we decided this morning was a good time to check the third floor corridor to find out what's so interesting about it"

"you know with most of the teachers interested in the flying lessons to see if there is any talent for the teams they tend to discretely watch the practice" one of the speakers said making air quotes around the word discretely as he said it.

"Anyway, we found out what was behind that door and its huge it's a massive." The other continued for his twin.

"Absolutely colossal." His brother teased.

"For crying out loud spit it out" one of the listening crowd snapped at them.

"Well that's just rude isn't it brother" twin one said.

"Isn't it just, perhaps we shouldn't tell them after all" twin two said with a devious smile on his face.

"You probably haven't even been past the door, you don't even know what's there do you" one listener spoke up.

"Do so, its a." one twin said.

"Cerberus" they both said at the same time.

There were some awed gasps and some shocked faces at that.

"No way, you're making it up what would they have one of those in the school for" the audience member spoke up for a third time.

"Ahh well dear brother that is the question isn't it" his brother answered.

"Quite right Gorge, we my esteemed colleague, are going to find out" replied his twin putting on a sophisticated tone to his voice.

"Indubitably Fred." The twin now identified as Gorge said before bursting out with laughter. After witch the pair of redheads skulked off into a corner of the common room clearly plotting something, you could tell because every so often one of them would laugh or snort.

Harry after this display was a bit worried both because they had a huge three headed dog in the school for some reason if the twins could be believed and because whatever they were planning clearly couldn't be good for anyone. Returning to his reading his astronomy book ready for tonight they only had it once a month during the full moon it had been explained in his first lesson that they had to use the light of the full moon to see the stars properly apparently they couldn't use lights because of the earth's atmosphere for some reason Harry barely understood.

In the dusk approaching the astronomy tower with his now almost ever present friends of Hermione and Neville he was met by the astronomy teacher a dark skinned woman called Aurora Sinistra. Waiting for the rest of the class to gather before climbing the step ladder to the roof of the parapet that housed the astronomy class the teacher said.  
>"right class this month we will begin in a more practical style than last I want you to begin by using your telescopes to identify each of the planets within our solar system marking down their coordinates as I showed you last month then use the features of your telescopes to determine the size colour and shape of the aura of each planet once you have done that we will discuss the meaning of each and how it affects magic you use, you may begin."<p>

It took Harry a while to find any of the planets astronomy wasn't taught any more in muggle school nor was it a common hobby among British children so after finally identifying what he believed to be Mars he made note of the angle his telescope was faced and went on to the others. It took around 40 minutes before he had found all of them it seemed he wasn't the only one taking as long though Sinistra didn't seem too concerned as she was reading a book while occasionally glancing at the class over the top of it. Harry readjusted the nob on his telescope so it would show auras. Glad now that the professor had made them identify each planet first because he could no longer see past the aura to the planets. Each planet had a different aura of vaguely indistinguishable shapes Harry was briefly reminded of a snippet of a movie the Dursley's must have had on TV with a patient trying to identify ink blots in a physiatrists office.

After noting down the shapes he had went with descriptions like a large bright red bat like shape and a squiggly blue purple circle he really wasn't sure he was doing this right. Waiting for the rest of the equally confused class to finish before she launched into teaching mode Sinistra was watching them all.

"Now you'll notice if you compare your notes with a friend you will probably find the shape you have each described is very different this is because the aura of a planet effects each of us differently. You will also notice they are however the same size and colour that is because it the effects of each planet effects our magic with the same intensity and to the same degree dose it effect each branch of magic. For example while it doesn't imagine that Mars effected the "lumos" spell if Mars was obscured by the moon you would have your normal white light but tonight where Mars is clear and has a blue aura so too would everyones "lumos" be blue, Mars also being quite dull tonight you could expect that "lumos" being a lighting spell would be less effective than normal cutting out before it reaches dark corners. Now as you have noticed the Aura is also quite Large or at least it is comparatively to the planet and other auras in our system tonight you could expect that the spell would though not bight would light a large area for the same amount of power as normal. Again I will state that this isn't the case with "lumos" but I see the Mars aura as wavy splodge so it might effect my "lumos" by being less defined around the edge of the light. You'll find with most magic you practice at least until fifth year astronomy has almost no effect on it you'll also find that only the more powerful rituals, potions and wards dose it really even matter to other wise its just about the amount of power and control you must have over your magic to get your desired results." The professor lectured the class.

Harry had hurriedly scribbled down everything she said it hadn't changed his interest in astronomy but at least he understood it had some use somewhere down the line to be able to determine the best time to do rituals and to attack wards. Tired along with the rest of the class Harry and his compatriots lethargically packed up their equipment and climbed down the ladder ready to drop when they got back to the warm of the heavy velvet of the tower.

**A.N. as I am sure you have noticed I am not in anyway organised and not even close to schedualed it will lightly continue in this manner 3 or 4 chapters a long brake 3 or 4 chapters etc expect to see a rather large brake from cannon on Halloween I have something of a road map ahead of me I know where I want to get to and events on the way its just a matter of fitting them in I want to say this incase I haven't already Harrys scar is as dumbledoor said when harry was left on the door step a very useful curse scar if he had known it was more than that when he left him there I like to belive he would have had a better plan than leave harry ignorant of magic to get himself killed by tom to remove it for all Albus knew harry could have embrased his muggle upbringing and simply used the cloak to shoot tom in the back never knowing the scar was a hocrux. To be clear in this story it is not I am partial to belive any magic strong enough after 10 years and 7 8 months to burn a man to cinders when that man was only possessed by the same amount of deseased soul as harry had would have long since burned the soul out of his scarl.**

**A.N. also the astronomey class being monthly is in no way because I forgot to wright it in the last chapter ;) also the spell checker wants me to change effect to affect but I was sure in this case the planets aura being the cause what happens to the wizards would be the effect so I'm not changing it **


	6. Trouble and Trolls

Chapter 6 – Trouble and Trolls

Harry had given up looking for a spot to practice in but he had an idea he was going to ask the Weasley twins if they knew of a place large enough for 3 people to practice in that was relatively private it was bad enough he had walked in on other studying but when he had walked in on that older couple making out in one of the abandoned class rooms wearing less than he would think sensible in the cold of the class room he didn't need that embarrassment again.

"Hey Fred" Harry said walking over to one of the twins oddly alone in the common room this morning

"Harry" Fred responded with a nod

"Fred, you and Gorge seem to be pretty good at finding a place to do your planning for pranks and stuff. Me, Hermione and Neville are looking for a place too I was hoping you might know of a place that's mostly unused." Harry asked.

"Well Harry me lad that's a tough one ill have to get in touch with our contacts to find out the question is what's it worth to you I might say 5 gallons." Fred said.

"4 sickles." Harry bartered.

"3 gallons." Fred responded.

"10 sickles." Harry countered.

"1 gallon" Fred lowed.

"Done." Harry finished.

"Nice doing business with you Harry I'll let you know by tomorrow where is the least used place in the castle to practice" Fred said before leaving to find his brother.

'Well that was easier than looking round the castle for weeks we should have just done that to begin with' Harry thought to himself.

Harry left for charms to meet Neville and Hermione as they had gone head when he had stopped to talk to Fred.

In charms Harry was left sitting next to Neville opposite Hermione and Ron, Harry had missed part of the introduction to the class and apologised for such "sorry I'm late professor".

"not a problem Mr Potter I'm sure Neville will catch you up when I'm finished" professor Flitwick said before continuing his lecture on the feather weight charm "…as such while preforming this charm on most objects wont lift them or have any real visible effect it is an excellent spell to test on a feather to help you get used to the feel of your own magic will produce the visible effect of the feather floating. The effect will persist until you end the spell with a "finite", it's perhaps something to bear in mind come the holidays when you need to move your trunks."

Harry turned to Neville "so what did I miss?" he asked.

"well not much the spell is a swish like a you then a flick the point at what you wanna lift and the incantation is "wingardium leviosa" apparently the a on the end of leviosa is very soft like an a not an ahh or arr, professor Flitwick said it makes a difference." Neville said.

Gathering himself Harry focused on his magic pushing it towards his wand and said "thanks Nev here goes nothing "wingardium leviosa" Finishing with a flick of his wand at the feather on the desk.

The feather floated a little off the desk before Harry said "finite, go on your turn Nev" turning to watch his friend try.

"Wingardium lev-io-sa" Neville said making sure to enunciate the words very carefully completely forgot to move his wand leaving it pointing at the window. "Whoops, let me try that again "wingardum leviosa"" this time he remembered to move his wand and the feather floated. Unfortunately Hermione wasn't doing quite so well with Ron as her bench partner.

"Will you shut up, I know what he said I was hear you know, gah "windgardium leveosar"." Ron said flicking his wand at the feather in front of him. When it didn't work he got frustrated and grunted trying a few more times before finally getting it right "see look it's not that hard" gloating to Hermione as if he had done it first time like she had.

Later once class was over Harry was walking to lunch with Hermione and Neville when they overheard Ron say "Merlin that bint is annoying, I can't believe Potter is friends with her I wish she would just shut up and leave people alone geeze classes are annoying enough without her butting in every time. Please sir I know the answer pick me pick me." He said making a little play of waving his arm in the air as if to get attention.

Before she could run off Harry stopped Hermione with a hand on her shoulder "stop Hermione, just ignore him if he wants to be an idiot that's his problem don't let it get to you. I'm your friend because you're a nice person not for what you can do for me I'm sure that Ron will drive Dean and Finnegan away soon enough"

At the Halloween feast later the trio of pre-teens where talking about the minutia of the day when Fred or Gorge came over and said "I got you a place to practice like you asked, there's an old unused classroom on the second floor of the old east wing that no one uses yet I did you a favour and asked the house elf's to clean it for ya."

"Thanks, errr, Fred? Err Fred what's a house elf?" Harry asked.

"Huh, oh a house elf is a little thing about this high like to serve wizards they feed of the ambient magic in the castle here or in homes they are bound to a wizard so they can be sustained by the wizard's magic. They know just about everything you could wanna know about the castle do most of the cleaning too I mean assuming Filch actually does some and not just chase me an Gorge round the castle for laughs. Oh and they cook too." Fred explained gesturing to the food before leaving to join his brother.

Part way though the chicken on his plate Harry and the rest of the great hall where interrupted by Quirrell banging open the double doors to the hall and shouting "Troll, Troll in the dungeons, thought you ought to know." All in one panicked breath before passing out.

There was pandemonium at that was loud until professor Dumbledore shouted "Silence" arms rose he looked quite grand and intimidating at that. "Students will return to their dorms and teachers will follow me and we shall deal with this troll. Prefects please ensure that a headcount is preformed once you reach your dorm and before you leave the hall." Dumbledore instructed.

Harry and the others followed out the door with a pat on the head as they were counted on the way past. Hermione said "aren't the Slytherin dorms in the dungeons I mean I always see a few come up from the stairs over there now and then?"

"Dunno can't say I've actually seen the entrance to their dorms probably not though I can't imagine Dumbledore would have sent the Slytherin's down there with a troll there surely." Neville said. Once they had crossed the portrait hole of the fat lady and been counted again sandwiches appeared on all of the tables around the common room.

Now in another universe a girl might be alone in a bathroom and a troll might have followed the scent of a member of the heard that was separate from the group away from the dungeon where it was let in. in that same universe a boy might have been there to save her with unusual bravery in an extremely confined space for the troll. His friend may also have gotten extremely lucky and used one of the few spells they had been taught thus far to do something unexpected and knock the troll out with his own club.

However in this one there was no lone girl in a bath room for the troll to seek out so it spent the time wandering the dungeon as such it encounter a buffet on legs coming towards it from the great hall. A young blond boy screamed when he saw the troll come out of an adjoining corridor to the rest of the students, this was a mistake. His scream drew the trolls attention to himself before he could think to act the trolls club impacted with his ribs knocking him to the wall when he promptly passed out from the pain.

The hall was a panic until the teachers responding to Draco's scream came rushing in and dealt with the troll. Such as trolls are magically resistant the only way to deal with them is physically not to say wrestling it but with spells of a nature that allowed indirect use of magic. Professor McGonagall's approach to the troll was to conjure fist sized rocks and banish them at the troll. Professor Flitwick used his many years of experience on the duelling circuit when he was younger to his advantage when he copied something he had seen an opponent do when he summoned the stone underneath the trolls left foot to him. Professor Dumbledore however was a flurry of spell fire the first created a solid transparent wall between the students and teachers made of some kind of crystal the second transfigured several of the stones making up the floor into large spikes directed at the troll, the third was to turn the floor under the troll to ice and his final spell was a large concussive blast of wind meant to make the troll fall and fall it did impaling itself on his conjured spikes.

Excitement over the teachers directed the students to return to their dorm while professor Flitwick floated young mister Malfoy to the hospital wing where hopefully he would make a full recovery.

The news was all over the castle the next morning though how the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws managed to have almost a complete set of details of the event was a mystery to Harry and his friends. Harry noticed Malfoy was still absent from the Slytherin table when he heard Ron say "couldn't happen to a better person I say. That Malfoy is always spouting his father's propaganda."

It wasn't long into breakfast when a tall long blonde haired man banged both doors open and marched quickly towards the staff table. Upon reaching it he spoke in his most you are beneath me voice "you've gone too far this time Dumbledore, whatever you've had trolls in here for I don't know but believe me when I find out its going to cost you at least the headmaster position and if I can help it you'll see the inside of an Azkaban cell for this, you sent my son and the rest of Slytherin house right into the trolls path even when you were warned it was in the dungeons. Now if you'll excuse me I am going to visit my son in the hospital wing." turning imperiously on the spot and marching away with his cloak billowing behind him.

Dumbledore left the hall after Mr Malfoy to almost complete silence no one in the hall had ever seen Dumbledore talked down to like that before. The only one talking was Ron Weasley "I can't believe Dumbledore let that snake talk to him like that he should be thankful Dumbledore even saved his git of a son from that troll ungrateful git."

"How can you say that Dumbledore sent those students to where he had been told the troll was Mr Malfoy is quite right to demand at the very least an explanation and his job for it?" Hermione lectured indignantly.

"oh yea sure take his side, don't you know anything this is probably all just some ploy by Malfoy to get rid of Dumbledore in the first place I'll bet he got the troll in here somehow." Ron fired right back.

"Humph, I give up he is obviously so biased against Malfoy that he won't listen to reason." Hermione said to the group at large.

After that they went about their day with only the barest of a thought towards the mornings entertainment until it came time for tea when Mr Malfoy returned this time followed by a group of people Harry didn't know "who are they" he whispered to Neville.

"Err dunno all of them Harry but that one is Amelia Bones, she's head of the magical law enforcement department at the ministry of magic. That's Cornelius Fudge he is the minister for magic. And that is my gran she's on the board of governors for the school. But I don't know the rest." Neville said

"I wonder if this is about the troll incident I mean Malfoy did threaten legal action and removal from Hogwarts perhaps this is it" Hermione said before the show began.

"Dumbledore you've gone too far this time endangering students for whatever it is you have on that third floor but bringing trolls into a school is just unreasonable. so I'm afraid I'm going to have to suspend you pending an investigation that given the results of the troll I'm sure you won't so I would suggest you collect your belongings on your way out" minister fudge said with Malfoy behind him with a vicious smirk on his face.

"Very well let me transfer the control of the wards over to Minerva and I shall collect my belongings" Dumbledore said in a clearly subdued tone as the group of interlopers Minerva and himself left the hall.

It wasn't until the next day that the students found out more of what happened with the arrival of the morning post. Harry was eating breakfast musing as to why professor Quirrell was absent from the staff table as well, when Neville got his paper delivered there on the front page was the article.

Trolls and tribunals at Hogwarts

By Rita Skeeter

Yesterday Albus Dumbledore was released from his duty as Hogwarts headmaster when it came to light he had been keeping an artefact of unknown power at a school full of children. It wasn't just that he kept a possibly dangerous artefact at a school with our nation's children as if this wasn't bad enough he also "protected" this artefact with traps he described at the opening feast as "a most painful death". Such traps included a Cerberus an illegal creature to bread in England and extremely dangerous known to attack anyone not their master with deadly force. But readers that's not all he kept mountain trolls in the castle another extremely dangerous creature due to its shear resistance to magic worse still these unthinking brutes where improperly contained by the staff member assigned to do so and on all hallows eve one escaped and ran a rampage injuring several students such as the young Mr Malfoy and several of his friends before being stopped by the staff. This resulted in the suspension of Albus Dumbledore for bringing the artefact into a school and of querulous Quirrell for the improper containment of trolls leading to the injury of the young Malfoy.

It wasn't long after Harry finished reading the morning paper that Professor McGonagall stood and announced "as I am sure you have all noticed by now Professor Dumbledore has indeed been suspended along with our resident defence against the dark arts professor. So for the next week while the enquiry is in progress defence against the dark arts is cancelled. Also the third floor is still out of bounds until it can be determined as to how the troll escaped its confinement as you can clearly tell Professor Dumbledore was indeed telling the truth so please do not go there. I will keep you informed about changes when I get more information on the situation regarding defence against the dark arts. Thank you."

Surprisingly for Harry very little seemed to actually change for the week following the troll but he did manage to find time to check out the spot on the second floor of the east wing just past the toilets with Hermione and Neville. It lead to something of an impromptu demonstration of what Harry could do without a wand showing Neville and Hermione his ability to animate objects to seemingly have a will of his own by setting a quill off doing a piece of transfiguration "homework" for him while he continued his demo. "Yea that was really handy in primary school" Harry said seeing the look on Hermione's face.

"I can teleport too" he said before attempting to do so, when he did it he felt a painful sensation of hitting a wall without moving. "That's odd it didn't work. It kinda felt like hitting a wall but not quite it's hard to describe. Normally there is just a faint sensation of wind in my face and a sensation of alertness."

"I can probably help with that." Said Neville "your teleportation is probably ether very similar to or actually apparition and Hogwarts has wards to stop apparition. My gran told me because normally she goes places by apparition but she comes here by floo." Seeing their looks of incomprehension he asked "what?"

He received "flue? As in the bit of the chimney between the fireplace and the roof?" from Hermione and a nod from Harry at the question.

"Err. Probably yea you though some floo powder into any fire place connected to the network and say your destination like the ministry of magic lobby or Hogwarts headmasters office etc." he answered.

"Sounds kinda like a telephone but for travel" Harry said.

"Telephone?" asked Neville.

"Huh, oh it's like a well its basically you dial a number for someone you know and if they answer their phone on their end you can talk to them over huge distances." Harry said.

"Oh right yea you can do that on a floo too". Neville responded.

"This is fascinating and everything but aren't we here to see what harry can do?" Hermione said bringing them back to the subject of their excursion.

"well there isn't much else to be honest I mean yea I've managed to do the charms from charms wandless but as Hermione knows my other skill didn't seem to work on wizards I used to call it my ignore me aura as it doesn't work on wizards I don't know how I'd show you." Harry said.

"that's probably similar to notice me not charm when you use it around muggles it works fine but around wizards you tend to find it only makes them more curious about the object involved, you've gotta use invisibility spells and such to hide things from wizards. We got a ward like that on our home." Neville supplied helpfully.

"That's still better than most can do without a wand few wizards have more than a dozen incidences of accidental magic so they never get any kind of control over it before they get a wand and those that do tend to be muggleborn so never really believe what they did was real." Neville continued on.

"I can't do any transfiguration though; I'm kinda annoyed at that. But any way yea that's what I can do if you want me to help you learn to do them too ill try." Said Harry.

"Yes please" said both Hermione and Neville both clearly eager to learn to do what he could.

"I especially want to learn how to make my quills do my homework for me" Neville said as he saw Harry pick up his now finished transfiguration homework.

"it's not so much doing it for me as remembering the key points of what I want to say the rules of the English language and animating the quill with those rules it won't look up material or cross reference stuff in the library or anything like that it was really useful for maths though dead easy for homework. It's also not as easy as it looks first you have to learn to hold the quill with your magic, then direct it to draw letters once you have that down you have to get it to do words as easy as you think them so that your barely concentrating on the magic to hold the quill much like you would with using your hands and after that comes the fun part willing the quill to stick to a set of rules. It's not easy certainly not as easy as doing the dishes but it took me about a year to get it down I'm sure we can manage better than that yea." Harry said with a smile before they left for charms.

The next day at breakfast McGonagall stood again for another announcement "I have been instructed by the board of governors to inform you that Albus Dumbledore will no longer be headmaster of this institution and that until further notice I am to assume headmaster duties. As such I have made several floo calls late last night and have arranged a new defence against the dark arts professor please join me in bidding welcome to Professor Alastair Moody." She said gesturing to the man at the end of the staff table before she began a light applause.

This caused many to take in the new man's appearance for the first time, he was a short man with a literal eye patch, that is to say his patch covering his eye had an eye on it or seemed to at least as it was moving and seemed to be looking at the headmistress. He had several scars on his face one on his chin and along gash mark over his damaged eye along with a piece missing from his left ear and his hair was grey with a few streaks of black smattered about. Harry thought he looked as though he had seen better days.

"He looks like he's been in the wars" Hermione said.

"Yea but he survived so he must at least know what he is talking about let's just hope he can manage to talk" Harry said.

"That's Alastair Moody" Neville said with clear awe in his voice.

"Yea, McGonagall just said" Harry said.

"No you don't get it he is like a legend my gran told me about him, apparently he put more dark wizards in Azkaban and took out more death eaters than any other hit-wizard in the business." Neville said.

"So he's good then?" Hermione asked.

"He's not just good he's the best after the last war he started teaching aurors. I can't believe we are gonna get to learn from him" Neville said clearly enamoured with the man.

Harry raised an eyebrow at Neville before he spotted the post arriving for the morning. Archimedes landed in front of Harry with the morning paper and Harry took it feeding him an extra crispy piece of bacon from the table "thanks" he said to the bird before it flew off to do his thing. Taking a mouthful of tea and unfolding the paper he did a spit take as he read the headline on the front page.

Ex-Professor at Hogwarts hangs himself

Ex-Professor Quirrell was found late yesterday evening when he didn't respond to post requiring his presence at the ministry for a hearing regarding his involvement with the incident with the troll on Halloween (please see previous article). He left a note claiming that the guilt over what he had done was too much and that he hopes his parents can forgive him and that he is sorry. He was found by the auror on duty that was sent to retrieve him John Dawlish. He had this to say "I thought he had done a runna or summin, didn' wanna face the music ya but apparently the silly bugger toped himself." (Cont. page 2)

By Rita Skeeter

"Oh my god, that's horrible" Hermione said shocked having quickly read the article over Harry's shoulder when he spat out his morning tea.

"What is?" Neville said having waited for the two of them to finish the article while he ate his sausage and tomatoes from his breakfast.

"Quirrell killed himself" Harry said finding his voice.

"Damn man I know he was a bit useless but still no reason to do that I mean it was just an accident that the troll got out right?" Neville said.

The rest of breakfast continued on very quietly no one really knowing what to make of the new professor or the news that the last one had hung himself.


	7. Teachers, training and trivia

Chapter 7 – Teachers, training and trivia.

When their lesson with the new professor Moody had finally come around Harry had just about all he could take of Neville's hero worship it had been "did you know he caught the Lestrange's and the Carrows, And Mulciber?" All week so when he started again with "did you know…" he was abruptly cut off by Harry with "we know. How could we not Nev you've been telling us all week"

"Sorry, I'm just so excited." Said Neville.

"We know Nev we know" Harry said giving him a patronising look and sarcastically patting him on the shoulder with a shake of his head.

As they reached the classroom to join the rest of the class that had gathered there they heard a clip-clonk noise from behind them

Clip-clonk.

Clip-clonk.

Clip-clonk.

They turned to see professor Moody coming towards them it was quite the intimidating sight to the young elven and twelve year olds the grizzled middle aged for a wizard man half stomping his way to them with his wooden leg both intimidating them and creeping them out at the same time.

"All right you lot inside" he spoke voice gruff and worn but clearly brokered no argument.

When they entered Harry at least was pleased to see this class room didn't have garlic streamers and was well lit. Looking around it seemed his enthusiasm for this was not uncommon he could see from the smile on Hermione's face that she approved of the more classic style of class room. At the front of the room there was a large open space where professor moody had walked to with a wooden dummy in the centre.

"Right, now I'm new here and for those of you that don't listen, my name is Alastair Moody also known as "mad-eye" Moody and if I catch any one calling me that it will be detention for you and it won't be pleasant. Now I used to be a hit-wizard that means I was the one they sent after the darkest of the dark wizards. I personally fought against Voldemort and captured or killed several of his highest ranking death eaters, cost me an eye and a leg to do so mind but I was younger and foolisher in those days. After the war I couldn't well go on with field work so they put me training the newbs at the academy and after ten years of making sure they weren't going to go out and make the same mistakes I did I've come here to make sure you don't either."

"now I've read though what your last professor had you do and I'm pleased that he at least got something right, you would not believe the things other professors for this subject have been having the upper years do. Anyway what he failed to do however is to get you to recognise that just because you avoid a spell does not mean that spell is going to do no damage observe." Moody said.

Pointing his wand to the side of the dummy he fired off a spell clearly not aiming for the dummy. When the spell fire got side along with the dummy it exploded leaving a burnt left side of the dummy. Shortly after the dummy disappeared and reappeared as if no damage was done to it and Moody fired off another spell again to side of the dummy. This time however instead of exploding it hit the back wall of the class room a brick of witch turned into a snake; witch slithered to the dummy and bit it before disappearing.

"As you can see that's two very easy spells that do not need direct contact to do damage. So can anyone tell me how best to avoid these?"

Only a few hands went in the air and Professor Moody looked over them before picking a coloured boy near the back with a point "you".

"Blaze Zabini sir. Well obviously you could use a shield charm to stop the transfiguration if it doesn't hit anything to transfigure it can't do it sir." The boy now identified as Blaze said.

"yes I suppose I could do that but what about you can you perform a shield charm even the week ones take more magic than the spell you are defending against and inanimate to animate transfiguration even short term ones like that require a bit of juice. And it would be almost no help against the redactor curse there. So no probably not the best way YOU could avoid these spells. Anyone else wanna guess?" said Moody waiting for someone else to guess. "You."

"Harry Potter sir. Err be further away from the explosion and run away from the snake sir?" Harry said feeling a bit daft.

"Yes that would work but how would you know which is witch. It's not good enough to avoid every spell you've gotta know what your avoiding so for the next few lessons I am going to be teaching you the basic characteristics of spell fire and what they mean weather its colour length thickness or appearance so you will know how far away to get from every spell."

The lesson continued on with professor Moody demonstrating the redactor curse a few more times explaining its colour isn't what you want to look out for here but that the fact that it appears as an almost ball as it files as opposed to lightning is what lets you know that it's an area affect spell. A few more impressive displays of magic were followed by wizarding photos on the board at the front of the classroom each one displaying a different primary attribute.

"Now for homework I want each of you to write down a list of all the spells in the standard book of spells grade one. I want to know what each one would look like and how you with your skills would avoid or counter each one if they were aimed at harming you. I am well aware that most of them are practically harmless but I also want an explanation of how they might be used to do harm to you as well. Before you all panic this isn't something I expect handed in next week I am giving you until the end of the winter holidays. Now be off with ya." Moody said rubbing his hip and stomping towards a door in the back of the room.

"wow that was pretty cool I learned loads, I mean yea I can tell he is gonna have us dodging some more but at least we learned about the spells n' stuff." Harry said.

"Yea, I told you he was awesome just think how much we can learn from him before we finish school" Neville gushed.

"It was certainly something that's for sure and that homework is definitely gonna make us pay more attention to what our spells do too" Hermione said.

"It still reminds me more of P.E. in primary school than an actual lesson on magic though" Harry said.

"yea I know what you mean but I suppose we really are learning to avoid spells as opposed to learning counter them or anything but I would imagine that countering spells is more advanced and dodging is much easier to get first years who aren't terribly good with their magic yet to do." Hermione said.

This weekend was the first quidditch game of the year lions vs. ravens apparently both teams had new seekers and a new chaser each so it was expected to be a close game by those in the common room that seemed to talk of nothing but. The Weasley twins where taking bets on who they could manage to knock out first, who would score first and everything in-between. Harry hadn't felt it quite comfortable making an actual bet on someone getting hurt so hadn't bothered to make one especially with those who could do the actual injuring taking the bets it seemed like a fool's game to him.

As the trio approached the quidditch grounds they noticed Neville's gran and several other older witches and wizards talking with interim headmistress McGonagall.

"Any idea who they are talking to the professor Nev?" asked Harry.

"Err… just a few I think they are the board of governors for the school like gran. I was never allowed in the living room when they had meetings at our house so I don't know many of em." Neville replied.

"Thanks man. Wonder what they are here for, do ya reckon they decided on a new headmaster yet?" Harry asked.

"probably Harry I can't imagine they want to leave the school in professor McGonagall's hands too long I mean all the headmaster duties on top of the normal teaching positions. It's probably why she's looked so tired the last few days. Anyway let's get to the pitch come on." Hermione said before speeding up some to catch up with the large crowd of students heading down the hill towards the stadium.

"Well you heard her Harry best not to argue. Come on" Neville said as the pair of them sped up a bit to catch Hermione.

The quidditch was amazing Harry thought it was like watching a cross between rugby and an aerial dogfight. He could only imagine how much fun it would be to be a part of that mayhem he could tell witch where the new players on both teams though. A boy on the Ravenclaw team was much slower about passing than the rest of them and never performed any acrobatics' when he had the ball. Harry could only assume it was from lack of practice because the others had no problems with it. There was also a girl on the Gryffindor team who while she was better than the new raven at passing didn't fly quite in sync with the other two chaser girls and got a bit left behind at times.

The seekers however it was clear to see that they had very different levels of skill. The older Gryffindor who had taken up a spot on the team didn't have skill for it or at least not the passion rather than any of the skilful flying the chasers where attempting from time to time he just hovered over the Gryffindors goal hoops. Harry supposed this could work as a tactic but it certainly didn't look fun and it wasn't particularly interesting to watch either.

The ravens' seeker however was a young attractive girl clearly of Asian decent with dark black hair. She moved on her broom with much more grace than many of the other players even though Harry knew she was new he figured she had at least a fair bit of experience of flying a broom at home. Oh he could tell she was new though it seemed although see was skilled on a broom she wasn't used to flying with others twice she had narrowly avoided a bludger from Fred or George because she wasn't paying attention to the other team.

In the end it was a narrow victory to the ravens of 340-310 the new seeker for Ravenclaw catching the snitch after 83 minutes of play.

"Wow that was pretty impressive I can see why everyone was talking about it. Its almost nonstop action and crazy stunts." Harry said.

"Yea but you should see professional games these are slow and tame by comparison. My gran took me to a few as a treat now and then. Once I saw a seeker catch the snitch from right behind the keepers ear but he did it by flying right at him with the chasers just behind him they scored at the same time and won by ten points it was awesome." Neville said clearly excited by the game.

"I don't know I still don't see what all the fuss is about. Though I've never really understood watching sports at all really, playing them I totally get its fun and everything rounder's was lots of fun to play in school but it would always be dead boring waiting for your turn at bat or waiting for them to hit it in your direction. Watching sports is just like that except that you never get a turn at bat." Hermione said.

"Whoa. Never thought about it like that Hermione still I had fun today and you can't say you didn't get into it I saw you cheering on the chasers too." Harry said.

"Yes well house pride and all that" Hermione said clearly blushing and embarrassed shed been caught enjoying it. The boys burst out in laughter at that.

Sunday the group found some time to get together and have Harry teach them in the abandoned classroom.

"right now, I don't know how easy or hard this will be for you but the first thing I want you to do is sit and think." As he said this they sat. "Remember your last instance of accidental magic. But not just remember it think hard be in the moment. What day was it? What was the weather like? Had you eaten? Where you hungry? Could you smell anything? Are you there?" Harry asked.

He received a nod from a closed eyed Hermione and a shake from a confused Neville.

"It's ok Nev what I want from this exorcize is to know if what you feel when you do magic with your wand is the same as when you use your accidental magic. Not so much the actual sensation but more can you feel where the magic comes from before it gets to your wand?" reassured Harry.

Getting a nod from Neville now he continued. "Can you both remember that sensation; is it the same as using your wand?"

"Yea I think so it's not quite the same but it definitely comes from the same place." Replied Neville first.

"I dunno Harry I don't really feel my magic come from anywhere other than my wand its just a very quick sensation of effort not really associated with anything but I can feel it leave my wand that's about it." Said Hermione after Neville had spoken.

"Hrmm I wonder why that is then. What was it like when you were doing accidental magic?" Harry asked.

"I'm not really too sure I just remember being frustrated and then tired I don't really understand what you are trying to explain Harry." Hermione said apologetically.

"Hrmm, ok let's try this then both of you give me your wands" Harry demanded.

Hermione gave hers immediately followed by a very unsure looking Neville who said "be careful with that Harry it was my fathers."

"Really? Well that's interesting I've just had a better idea that might help you Hermione. I was just going to keep your wands from you and see if I could get you to want them back bad enough to summon them accidently but nev just gave me an idea." Harry said receiving angry and shocked expressions for it.

He gave Neville his wand back and then he gave Hermione his own wand. It sputtered a little with a few red sparks when she grasped it making Harry smile remembering its reaction to him.

"Right now I want you to both cast lumos since those wands haven't chosen you they won't work with you very well like Olivander said the wand chooses the wizard. With nev getting some resistance from his father's wand or at least enough to be sure of where his magic comes from hopefully you should get enough resistance from my wand to be able to feel your own magic instead of just the wand this time so go ahead and cast something like a lumos or something."

Understanding what he wanted now Hermione cast a "lumos" it was dim but it was there but that wasn't the point of the exercise. "I feel it. I can feel it Harry." She said excitedly before panting a bit and putting out his wand. "Phew that's tiring".

"Hrmm so you definitely felt it that time?" Harry asked.

"Yea it came from my heart at first all I could feel is the back up at the wand but after just a few seconds I could feel it pushing all the way from my heart to the wand. But it was sorta like trying to push a block of stone down a hill." She said.

"Ok?...so what about you Nev?" Harry asked confused at Hermione's analogy.

"well yea it comes from here" he said putting his hand over his heart "is it really that tiring using his wand I always get a little tired after transfiguration I figured it was just because I wasn't a very powerful wizard but if you're having a hard time with Harry's wand then maybe I just need to get my own." Neville asked.

"Perhaps but we should talk about that another time we are after wandless magic today. Now that you both know where your magic comes from I want you to put your wands down and try and feel you're magic. Try and sense it when you're not using it and try n' hold it. I know that doesn't make much sense but try, like holding on to a feeling or a memory." Harry said

He could see them both sat there on the floor with their eyes closed clearly struggling Hermione still clearly tiered and Neville not quite sure he was doing it. "Let me know when you have it but not just have it when you're sure you won't lose it when you could tell me exactly what shape it was."

It wasn't for another twenty minutes sat there watching them with their eyes closed while he reread his standard book of spells grade one did either of them indicate they had done what he wanted. It was Neville that finished first looking up at Harry sat on a desk reading his book with a big smile on his face he said "got it". It was a whole extra five minutes before Hermione had it too when she looked up at him and nodded.

"Right great I figure that's the hardest part next we are gonna try some magic" Harry said.

"What that's it just grab your magic and do it no meditating for hours or anything like that?" Neville said quite surprised.

"nev mate I figured out how to do this on the school roof in about 5 minute admittedly I was using accidental magic at the time to remain unnoticed so I had a bit of an advantage but still its hardly gonna be complicated. So any way no that you have a hold on your magic lets do some eh. Right now I want you to levitate these two books." He said taking herbs and fungi and transfiguration for beginners out of his bag.

"Ok mate if you're sure." Neville said.

"Ok then wingardum leviosa" Hermione said.

Harry stopped them both "no not like that watch" he said before throwing his standard book of spells into the air and letting it float there. "Did you see what I did differently?"

"Yea you didn't say anything?" Neville said not quite sure it was that simple.

"right I didn't even know there was word to go with magic when I started I just grabbed my magic and willed things to happen it is that simple you want that book to rise throw your magic at it and lift it you want that plate to be whole again throw your magic at it and will it you want everyone not to notice you will them to ignore you and hold you magic. Now have another try." Harry said hoping this time they got it as he was really struggling to convey what he meant.

This time Hermione got it and almost strait away too Neville not too long after all in all it had taken them both about an hour to get some deliberate wandless magic going. Not too shabby Harry thought to himself.

"now that you can do it your obviously gonna have to let go of your magic I used to get exhausted quite quickly doing magic about an hour holding onto my magic at first now I can hold it, not doing anything for about six hours. What I want from you before next week end is for you to each find out how long you can hold it for and obviously not to go showing off its only gonna bring people asking to learn how to do it and I want to move on to trying to get some transfigurations or spells that have bolts to work with this."

"No problem mate" Neville said.

"Ok Harry if you're sure" Hermione said.

"Let's get to the library and get some reading done now that you've both got this down perhaps we can start our history project." Harry said changing the tone of his voice from the serious one he had used before to a much more jovial one.

Later in the library gathered around a table near the stacks Harry took out his copy of a history of magic by B. Bagshot and put it on the table. He let the group look at it for a while before saying.

"from what I have been able to find out from some of the higher years that I asked this is first years curriculum next year we move on to volume 2 etc. it's a five volume series each one seems to be mainly about "goblin rebellions"" making air quotes with his fingers as he said it. "With a few things like the founders of St. Mungos or ministerial reforms and other such unimportant facts smattered about." Harry was going to continue but was interrupted by Neville.

"What's the "goblin rebellions" about?" again making air quotes.

"I mean to say for a race that supposedly lost their last war they are in control of a lot of wizard gold. But that's not the important thing we will learn about this in due course as we do history of magic what I want to learn about are the things like Merlin and Morgana and other famous witches and wizards but other than those two I have no idea what to look for any ideas?"

For a while both Hermione and Neville both looked confused before Neville came up with quite possibly the best idea possible for history study. As he thought it, it was evident on his face he believed it to be the best idea since sliced bread.

"I have had an idea just give me two minutes to run back up to the dorms and back you need to see this." He said before running off excitedly leaving a very confused couple of pre-teens.

"So any idea what he went to get, you share a dorm with him?" Hermione asked.

"No idea. Guess we will have to wait and see. I was talking to a fifth year about history of magic and he was saying they didn't have anything about Voldemort or me nothing past 1946 and only briefly mentioning Albus and his battle with Grindelwald, no mention of Hitler or anything else from world war 2 and I get the distinct impression if it wasn't a muggleborn I was talking to they wouldn't have even known the muggles had been at war during the time." Harry said.

"I know what you mean if it wasn't for the extra books I bought I wouldn't even have known about you let alone Voldemort maybe we learn about that stuff in sixth and seventh year it being more recent. It's barely history yet." Hermione said

Neville re-entered the library panting holding what looked to be a folder of some sort. He ran up to their table putting down on the table and Harry read the title on the front of it "Chocolate frog cards - Famous wizards and witches throughout history".

"This is excellent Neville, not only do we have names of people to look up but a vague idea of what they did giving us an idea of where to look nice one." Harry said clearly pleased at Neville's idea.

They made a list of wizards and witches they wanted to study first. They started with merlin and by extension morgana the founders of Hogwarts and then they each picked one each to study. Hermione picked Albus Dumbledore. Neville in the wake of the quidditch excitement yesterday picked Delvin Whitehorn founder of the Nimbus broom company expert flyer and inventor. Harry picked Uric the Oddball because he had a silly name and had somehow managed to get famous for wearing a jellyfish on his head Harry thought there had to more to that story than that.

"Now I think we should split these up into three groups of three and each take one group spending a week researching each and put together a dossier on each and then meet up and brief the others on what we have found. That way we have a clear goal for each week and won't get too confused." said Hermione.

"Phew that sounds like a good idea very organised even I think I should add though that whoever gets Merlin shouldn't get Morgana that way we will get two perspectives on what happened." Said Neville.

"well its how I used to do my homework at school split it up into smaller bits and do each bit separately." Hermione said in a small voice.

"yea no problem I think we should each take the wizard we picked out to study our self's" Harry said taking out a piece of parchment and writing all the names on it and next to the group picked ones he wrote their names.

"Ok I think we should each take a founder next I want Gryffindor." Neville said and Harry recorded his choice before looking to Hermione to make hers.

"I want Ravenclaw" she said thinking about what the hat had said to her before deciding on Gryffindor.

"Ok then I'll take Slytherin then that just leaves Merlin Morgana and Helga." Harry said recording that had who.

"I'll take Helga since you two are new to the wizarding world you won't know much about what happened back then and I've heard a bit about Merlin from my gran." Neville said.

"You wanna take morgana then Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Yea sure." She replied and he recorded for the final time their choices.

Taking out another piece of parchment he wrote "what to find out on the top"

"So what do we want to find out about these people?" he asked.

"Well I think we should start with the simple stuff like when they were born where they lived and what they were famous for." Hermione said.

"What about their families, if they had any or if they have any still alive that sorta things usually pretty important in wizarding society" Neville said as Harry's quill scribbled away furiously without his hands.

"Hrmm ok what about if they made any thing or built anything like I dunno Hogwarts and things like that." Harry suggested.

"good idea that certainly looks enough to be getting on with for each one for now I would suggest that if you can try and order their accomplishments in order of when they happened and where they happened so we can get an idea of what was going on at the time." Hermione said and with that they each split up into the stacks looking for books on each of their chosen wizards Harry starting with Merlin.

A.N. I don't know if I will find a place to say this in the story but under this system of wandless magic the reason more people aren't capable of it is because as they get more powerful the less lightly the are to receive resistance from a wand even it belongs to someone else and thus it becomes harder to get a sensation of where their magic is coming from other than the end of their wands it takes an exceptionally aware wizard to be able to feel their magic for the first time passing though a perfectly matched wand such that Olivander always sells (neville's wand isn't perfectly matched but its not as bad a match as harrys is for Hermione.)

A.N. with regard to Harry and the group not telling anyone I belive this is the way kids are they are very secretive amoung their friends and this is like their own special little club I am contemplating Hermione making little badges or something having few friends this to her would be like saying I have friends this is proof they where the same badge look. I know its petty but kids are like that hell even adults are.


	8. History, homework and more history

Chapter 8 – History, homework and even more history.

It had been three weeks since that meeting in the library and it had been a busy three weeks. There had been another quidditch match crammed in between Slytherin and Hufflepuff and Slytherin had won by a landslide, their team had been made up of mostly larger boys from upper years and their seeker was clearly a seventh year and quite good as he had caught the snitch in less than 40 minutes while they were 150 points up.

The group had met up another few times on the Sundays to practice magic. Hermione and Neville had reported that they could each hold their magic for about an hour and a half before tiring; Hermione also said she had had trouble with transfiguration too because of this. Not that Harry needed telling he had been sat next to her when she had attempted to turn her button into a box and it exploded into a mess of cardboard. She had gotten the hang of not using too much magic by the end of the lesson though.

Though she had reported that when she couldn't feel her source of magic it had just been a matter of letting the spell take the magic it needed but now she needed to guide the right amount to the wand. Neville had reported that he had asked his gran about his wand fighting him and that she had agreed to buy him a new one over the holidays. He had told her he had used a friend's wand and magic had been much easier not quite the truth but close enough that he didn't feel bad about it.

Harry though had noticed something now that he was a good way though Moody's homework. He had found that he was capable of every wandless casting every spell listed in the standard book of spells grade one that did not produce a bolt or ball. Admittedly such things where limited to small lighting spells lifting things and other "proof magic exists" spells he had decided that he would have the group look into the fundamental difference between spells that produced bolts like curses and transfigurations and those that didn't to see if they could expand their wandless repertoire.

He would have to wait till the others got better fine motor control over their magic so far only Hermione had managed to get her quill to wright the alphabet and it was very slow and scratchy Neville was still stuck doing things like getting his quill to move in circles and squares. Something Harry had done a few years back before he had thought to try and get his pen to wright for him.

Last week Hermione had asked him for a letter to ex-headmaster Dumbledore about their history project asking if he could provide his own account of a brief history of his life. Harry had obliged with a letter they had sent off with Harry's owl Archimedes.

_Dear Albus Dumbledore._

_ Myself and group of close friends have started a history project as we feel Hogwarts isn't providing the history we want to know about. As part of this we have each selected several famous witches and wizards though out history (we selected people from chocolate frog cards , Neville's idea.)And are compiling "dossiers" (Hermione's word) for each on what they have done and why they are famous and the like. My friend Hermione has chosen you as one of her subjects and was hoping you could shed some light on the topic anecdotes(again Hermione's word id have just said stories) and things you felt strongly about would be helpful. We all felt the letter would be best coming from me as we are sure you receive a lot of mail and we are hopeful you get time to read this._

_Many thanks _

_Yours sincerely _

_Harry J Potter_

_P.S. Archimedes loves mice. _

But none of this was why these past few weeks had been so hectic no that was all down to the new headmistress. Augusta Longbottom when she had arrived Neville had been pleased to see her but when the announcement came that she was going to be headmistress his face had lost all colour. It had gone something like this.

It was lunch and Hermione, Neville and Harry had been discussing herbology as they had that next and had begun dealing with plants that bloom at night but need harvesting during the day such as jasmine and its magical cousin. When Augusta and several older witches and wizards entered the great hall Harry recognised them as those that had been talking to Professor McGonagall before the last quidditch match. McGonagall stood to welcome them as they approached the pedestal that the staff table was on top of.

After what seemed a short whispered discussion between McGonagall and Augusta, Augusta approached the lectern that Dumbledore had given his start of term speech from and started her clearly rehearsed speech.

"Good afternoon Hogwarts. Both staff and students I am here to make several announcements first of all that I am going to be your new headmistress on a permanent basis and professor McGonagall can get some much deserved rest after being very over worked these last few weeks." At this she gave a nod to McGonagall and received an amused smile in return.

"There have been several things that have slipped in recent times. Hogwarts we are no longer the best school for magic in Europe. This is something I intend to change in order to do this changes need to be made. Changes for safety and changes for better education are both necessary. Sometimes these changes are as small as moving from one classroom to another, other times these changes will involve a complete reworking of a subject. Now I don't want you to worry about this just yet most of these things will be happening behind the scenes until at least the holidays for the small changes and the major changes won't be seen until at least next year. Let me finish by saying that I am committed to seeing that your education is the best it can be both as an experience and as something you can use once you are finished here, thank you enjoy your lunch."

It was quite a speech and after she, the governors and McGonagall left the hall presumably to talk about what was going to happen. Neville had been in a state of shock since his gran had announced she was going to be headmistress Harry hadn't been sure he had heard anything else.

In Moody's class they had moved back into dodging except now they were expected to let some spells narrowly avoid them and others they were expected to leap right out of the way. This was how we find Harry at the start of December.

"Dodge, Dip, Duck Dive and Doge these are the five D's of defence as long as you know witch to do no spell can harm you this is why you must not only know what is coming but how to avoid it. It must be instinct to dive from a ball of spell fire and to dip under an elemental fire attack to dodge a curse bolt, to duck under a transfiguration." Moody lectured while shooting spell after spell at our nearly exhausted potential.

"Very good Harry takes a seat and gets your breath back. Now can anyone tell me what the problem with this method is?" Moody asked.

Seeing blank faces stair back at him he continued on. "Well how about this then you and your two friends." He said pointing at Malfoy. "are coming out of a sweat shop in Hogsmeade and find yourself surrounded by "bad guys" all adults from the look of them and they start shootin' spells at ya. What's gonna happen when you all dive outa the way?"

"Err I dunno sir it will hit the building behind us?" Malfoy answered.

"exactly and what if you had other friends in that building they'd be hurt or killed so as you can see not getting hit from spells is all well and good and we should all make sure to not be hit by any spell we can see but unfortunately there are times we avoiding the spell is going to put others in danger. So as you can imagine there is a solution to this problem as it was brought up earlier I see no reason to ask you the solution is a shield charm. Now what I want is to move on to teaching you all this but I'm not allowed until each of you is capable of dodging two and a half minutes of spell fire so I want you to all manage this before the holidays so we can start next term with shield charms." Moody said.

Hermione put her hand up waiting for the professor to look her way and it wasn't long before he did.

"Yes miss Granger?" he said.

"sir, how come we were these robes with long flowing backs and wide sleeves when we are dodging its not very practical I know you hit me on my sleeve when I dodged more than once?" she asked.

"Well that's simple Miss Granger, what is the point in learning to defend yourself in something you're not going to be wearing if you are attacked. I'm well aware of the muggle fashion of wearing pyjamas to learn to fight in but how many of them ware pyjamas when they are shopping its no good wearing something form fitting to learn to fight in if you're not going to be wearing it else wares." He answered.

"oh" she said feeling a bit sheepish realising when he said pyjamas he meant karate GI's and then thinking that he did have a point you don't see them wearing those clothes about town and if she was going to be wearing robes to go shopping its best to learn how they are going to behave when dodging .

"Right now the lesson's over be off with ya." Moody said ending his lesson.

As they were filing out Harry spoke to Neville still fairly out of breath "I gotta admit he is good much better than Quirrell was I could dodge him all day but then he only ever shot one every few seconds with Moody it's a challenge to him to see if he can hit you. I feel much fitter now at least"

"Speak for yourself mate I'm exhausted how about you Hermione." Neville asked a clearly lost in thought Hermione as they left the classroom.

"Huh, what oh yea tired could use a good long bath too I'm covered in sweat" Hermione answered snapping out of the thoughts on clothes.

Later after while Hermione was researching the steps involved in brewing the potion paste for making burn healing salves ready for the next potions lesson. Something that apparently all brewers use and like much of the first year curriculum was designed to help immediately after accidents or to help prevent them such as the stone skin paste potion they had brewed last week to help prevent minor cuts from the potions knifes. Harry spotted Archimedes out the window heading for him.

"Hey look Archie's back." Harry said.

Looking up from her world she joined Harry and Neville who had been playing chess by the window, Neville destroying Harry. Harry opened the window and waited for Archie to land while he fished about in his bag for some owl treats for him. He gave Archie a treat as he took the letter from him.

"Thank you" he said petting his now proud looking owl.

"Well what does it say I'm almost finished my dossier on Dumbledore this would be nice to finish it off" Hermione said impatiently.

"Hold your horses Hermione" Harry said taking extra-long now to open his letter to taunt her much to Neville's amusement.

"Gahh hurry up Harry, it's not funny I wanna know what he said." She complained.

"All right" he said opening the letter properly now.

_Dear Mister Potter_

_ I was both surprised and delighted by your letter. I must say though I am disappointed you find Hogwarts education lacking in the area of history I hadn't realised this was an assessment among the students I know many of them find it boring, but I had assumed that was just Cuthbert's delivery of the material. _ As for your groups study idea I would be delighted to help and not just with my own dossier as your friend calls them I am quite old and I have known a lot of witches and wizards in my time both famous and not but all good friends. As for anecdotes and stories of my past I will tell you some now but I ask that you remember that each of us is just a man or woman no matter how famous we are or how we are portrayed by history we are still human and we make mistakes.

_When I was a young man I attended Hogwarts with my younger brother Aberforth I was prodigiously good with magic but better still with learning. I learned fast by the time I reached fifth year I was already better than most seventh year students in many subjects I admit though after an abysmal first few lessons I dropped divination. By seventh year I had been using the library to expand my knowledge into areas not normally taught at Hogwarts such as alchemy and blood magic, while blood magic is often seen as dark its rarely used as such many applications of blood magic are in protection wards and identification though obviously there are darker aspects to the subject. Alchemy however is a tricky subject and not an easy one to learn._

_ It wasn't till after I had left Hogwarts that I understood why that is the case alchemy came before wands. Before alchemy changing one thing into another was impossible this being the case alchemy is not something that can be learned without at least some skill with wandless magic. I learned from my friend Nicholas Flamel the basics of wandless magic in the early 1900s once I had that down he taught me much of alchemy starting with the golden rule of equivalent exchange._

_ From there I spent many years traveling visiting historically magical sights starting from Stonehenge and finishing at the Forbidden City in china. After my travels I returned to Hogwarts with a new companion Fawkes a beautiful phoenix. It wasn't long after this that world war two broke out I was dismayed to learn a former friend was leading the magic forces from Germany in this atrocity._

_ He had been using vampires and werewolves to terrorize small rural villages and increase his army when I first engaged them with a group of my fellow countrymen (I don't know if you know this but while transformed a werewolf cannot be killed by conventional means except decapitation and silver stakes. Similarly with vampires with time and blood they will recover from most wounds except immolation, staking and beheading.) There were quite a number of them and I was reluctant to kill them. This was the first time I had been in real combat to the death eventually I came up with a solution for the vampires I remembered reading about a vampire hunter during my time in Romania by the name of Belmont who had used a silver cross with a chain attached also made of silver that he used as a whip one account of the hunter had him interrogating a bound ware thinking this might help me I unfortunately had no silver but I could at least bind the vampires in an easily accessible way. This is how I created my now famous fire whip._

_ Much of the rest of my time in the war is very unpleasant and not a topic to talk about with children if you'll forgive me. It was after the war that I was awarded grand sorcerer status meaning that I have the power to cast spells that affect the landscape in such a way as to leave a permanent reminder of the spell, I had done so several times during the war._

_ Much of my time after that was mundane and some of the best times of my life I discovered a fondness for muggle confectionary and several of their more relaxing sports. Until the civil war with Voldemort things where quite nice again this subject is both still very raw and not something I want to discuss at this time._

_ I hope this was helpful for your history project and that perhaps we might exchange more letters in the future. Feel free to correspond with me on any matter you wish as I have said I am knowledgeable in many areas._

_Yours cordially_

_Albus Dumbledore_

"Wow that's more than I expected" Hermione said as she finished reading what she had decided to call a brief history of Dumbledore.

"I know it I never expected that much I kinda thought he wouldn't answer us or that if he did it would be something along the lines of a few words on his "fondness for muggle confectionary" as he says" said Neville

"It kinda sounds like he doesn't have as many people as we thought wright to him I mean look at the end he asks us to write to him about any subject. But hey at least Archie will have something to do from now on other than hang around won't you, you lazy bones" Harry said petting Archie.

When Sunday came around after their lesson on wandless magic where Neville finally progressed to attempting letters with his quill admittedly not very quickly or neatly and Hermione was trying to get her alphabet writing neater and quicker though not very successfully. She had compared it to trying to learn to wright with you left hand after always using your right; Harry thought that was probably an apt analogy. They had left their little class room for the library.

In the library sat around the table they had commandeered for themselves they each got out their "dossiers" on the famous wizards they had each elected to study. Hermione's was appeared to be folders right out of a spy movie except that instead of top secret on the top of them each one had a different name that looked like it was stamped there, Harry had wondered how she managed that. Clearly she had went the extra mile Harry's was just three note books he had sent away for in the first week large ones but none the less little effort in it. Neville however had a mess of loose parchment in three different piles Harry thought he would get Neville some relief pads next time he ordered some.

Hermione clearly eager went first. "As you can see Mister Bond. Nah just kidding" she said to the shocked face of Harry and the confused face of Neville, at witch Harry whispered "I'll explain it later".

Hermione continued on properly this time "as you can see I have three very large dossiers I suggest that we go in some kind of order I was thinking chronological starting with morgana then merlin then the founders the uric then Albus" she said all without taking a breath. She received nods and expectant looks in return.

"Now as I've chosen morgana and I'll be going first. First I want to give you these hand outs" she said taking out two three page hand-outs and giving them to the boys. "I doubt you prepared anything similar but most of the information I will be going over will be inside those the only thing missing are my personal notes and research notes. Please feel free to ask me any questions when I am finished."

"As you can see from your hand outs no exact dates can be given to Morganas life this is in part because many of the documents from that time have been lost in what was deemed the dark ages in witch much of the witch burnings and burnings of other things such as churches and castles where such documents lived. As you might imagine this made looking things up difficult. From what I have been able to find out though she lived at least 300 years before the founders where born. She had one son with Arthur at some point her child died without progeny in battle with his father."

"beyond that she was responsible for uniting several races of "dark creatures" I say it like that because before her they were just creatures she made several attempts on the life of Arthur in an effort to gain his kingdom witch she believed to be hers by right of birth. In one attempt she went and far as to open the veil of death by means of an ancient druidic blood sacrifice, I couldn't find any more information on that other than that Merlin closed it and that it was located on the "isle of the blessed". I have found that she was a raven animagus capable of this and she wielded a staff, perhaps indicating she was either too powerful for a wand or that she was around before Olivander's wand store. She was apparently responsible for the first infirius and created several artefacts none of which survived her death, something witch I have found to be a common thread among the others. Any questions?" Hermione lectured.

A few minutes reading the hand-outs she gave them and then Harry stood to do his.

"Well I haven't got hand outs or anything but you can copy my notes afterwards if you want. Like Hermione said much of what I could find about Merlin in the library seems to be more hearsay than actual fact. Again no details are available on his date of birth or death more interestingly there are no details on his death at all. It is not known if he had children because the first tails of him arriving in Camelot he was already a man of 30 years of apparent age and while he left eventually with grey hair and a long white beard he had been said to be able to change his appearance at will, from what I've been able to find this is called metamorphmagus."

"while he was a part of the court of Arthur he set up the reserves for British dragons already vastly thinned down from their once large numbers, he was also the first to combat the dementors who apparently where spawned from the veil of death by Morgana. He was said to use a staff as well as wandless magic but there is no recoded incidence of him using animal transfigurations, something I was disappointed about after watching the sword in the stone. Apart from Excalibur witch has since been lost he left no artefacts."

"Any questions?" Harry said.

Again a couple of shakes of the head and Hermione leaned over and whispered "I watched that as a kid too".

Neville stood to give the first of his dossiers.

"Er yea well Helga Hufflepuff was a witch from whales and while her exact dates are not known they are known to be around a thousand years ago during the founding of Hogwarts. Who her husband was is unknown but she is known to have surviving decedents in the smiths of witch there are several still around."

"Other than obviously founding Hogwarts she invented many charms such as those used to make cooking easier as well as herbology. She is also said to have campaigned to make living conditions for house-elf's better its why Hogwarts is open to any elf wanting to bind themselves to it. She was a healer too she set up the hospital wing where it is now."

"Er there was supposed to be a cup that belonged to her too supposed to have healing powers capable of cleaning any wound of infection and stuff but it was lost when Hephzibah Smith died, there are no other surviving relics or magical paintings of her."

"Thanks Nev your turn Hermione." Harry said.

"Right well next is Rowena Ravenclaw and again I have hand outs for you" she said passing them out.

"This time the information was a lot more readily available much like Neville I could find no concrete information regarding her date of birth or death only that she lived during the founding of Hogwarts obviously. Though I was able to find that she was born in Scotland near a lake so that narrows it down to a few locations listed in the file I gave you. When I attempted to find if she had any living heirs I found only that she had one daughter and that she died in Albania apparently at the hands of a jilted ex-lover."

"From what I've found she was responsible for perhaps the most stupid idea ever in that she decided it would be an excellent idea for staircases to change destinations at random. Urgh, that sill annoys me just what possessed her to think it was a good idea is beyond me. On the other hand she is also responsible for the ceiling in the great hall and while this is equally useless it is at least pretty."

"I was able to find that she was the one that owned Hogwarts before it was named such so it is lightly that she was born right here again that is one of the locations mentioned in the file. I also found that she had at least one artefact that may have survived her death as it was lost before her death, the diadem of Ravenclaw. While no portraits of her exist there are images of her such as a marble bust in the Ravenclaw common room. Any questions?" Hermione said.

"Er nope my turn?" Harry said receiving a nod.

"Right now Slytherin is an interesting one again no actual dates and no death recorded at all but we know a fair bit about him and his family like him being born in Norfolk. I was able to trace his family down to two surviving members or at least I think they are both alive, one is somebody called Tom Marvolo Riddle and the other is me" at this Harry was interrupted by a shocked gasp from Neville and a "Really?" from Hermione.

"yup double checked to make sure a few generations after Salazar there where three brothers the Peverell's the first had no kids and died in combat the second his wife died in child birth that was toms ancestor and died about 15years later apparently killing himself, The third was my ancestor. These brothers were also pretty famous so I think we should at some point look into them."

"Now from what I could find Salazar was famous for starting a new batch of blood based bigotry saying that he only wanted to teach pure-bloods at Hogwarts. Now the next part I couldn't find any proof of but apparently he built a chamber here at Hogwarts and left clues for his decedents to find when it was clear the others wouldn't agree not to teach muggleborns. I found he was apparently skilled with the taming of beasts and potions but he specialised in legilemency, which I had to look up it's apparently just as it sounds mind reading. He was also a Parselmouth witch is apparently a sign of a dark wizard though I think that's just because he was one and after people wouldn't admit to it if they were and weren't dark. I have checked using that painting of a wizard in a pit of snakes on the fourth floor near the toilets and I am too."

"now when it comes to relics and things he may have left behind I was able to find that the Gaunt family who until tom were dirt poor not that he did much better, had kept hold of his locket and it was apparently able to hold a memory to replay over and over but only one. He also apparently was the one responsible for making the sorting hat while it was Gryffindor's hat Slytherin enchanted it. Any questions?" Harry said.

"Are you really a paselmouth?" Neville asked shyly.

"I'll show you later if you want, it's not terribly impressive though I mean what can I really do with being able to talk to snakes? Your turn." Harry answered.

"Huh. Oh yea right well we know a fair bit about Godric he was born in Godric's hollow it was renamed for him after a battle in which he and a clan of local goblin's repelled a hoard of orcs. The goblin leader of the clan at the time gave him a sword for his services to his people to be kept in perpetuity with his family line. Witch er we think ended with him as it was known he left Hogwarts shortly after Salazar saying it just wasn't the same without his friend."

"We know his sword survived him as well as his hat. Er I kinda thought the hat was his but well if Harry says Salazar charmed it I dunno. He was supposed to be one of the best duellers around but I couldn't find out if that was with his sword or with magic or not."

"Thanks Nev, who's next?... me?" Harry asked reviving a nod from Hermione.

"Right well Uric the oddball. What can I say he makes Moody look positively normal and not paranoid at all I figured out that he got his chocolate frog card not for being mad as a hatter but for being a celebrated mind healer shortly after the founding of Hogwarts. I couldn't find any specific data on where he was born but he was known to have lived in a swap after he went mad."

"The story goes that when healing some coma patient with legilemency, he decided that he didn't want anyone messing about with his mind because he realised that he was essentially reprogramming the penitents mind from scratch I thought maybe someone would do it to him. So fearful was he of this that he invented a whole new branch of mind magic he called occlumency meant to obscure his mind from any invader. At first it was all right in that he noticed increased memory retention but eventually he grew so paranoid that his defences weren't enough that he drove himself mad with a fwooper and the jellyfish was supposed to be an extra defence."

"I got most of it from a journal he left here apparently he worked in the Hogwarts hospital wing after he was fired from the magical hospital. But after that it's mainly scribbles and swirls not a lot of it makes much sense, few times it says gotta hide can't let them take my mind. Things like that. Any questions?" Harry said.

"wow at least I know why they gave him a card now I always thought it a bit odd they gave him a chocolate frog card for wearing a jellyfish on his head." Neville said.

"You got this from his journal you say?" Hermione asked receiving a nod in turn.

"Does it describe this occlumency at all, is that what caused his madness?" she asked.

"it does a bit but not much from what I could gather it seemed to be a process similar to how he helped patients mixed with other stuff apparently your supposed to meditate on your memory's and as you remember each one strip the memory of emotion. The emotions are what a legilimancer uses to find them and "tag" them with descriptions or category's the more the better you keep doing this until no more memories come to you. You give your tag or category's whatever you want to call them an emotion so that while the memories don't hold the emotion your tags do and by levelling out how much emotion is in each memory it makes things easier to remember cos apparently the more emotionally attached we are to a memory the easier it is to remember."

"But specifically I don't know much about how to enter the meditative state or anything like that can look it up later if you like. It wasn't very easy to understand to be honest" Harry answered.

"Might be worth looking into but I want to find out if others who learned it went mad too first" Hermione said.

"I guess it's my turn now and I can't add much to what Dumbledore sent in his letter other than he was born in Godric's hollow and also had a sister who died young there isn't much to say I've still got hand outs for each of you though." Hermione said.

"Well ok my turn again I guess. Ok Devlin Whitehorn was born 1945 he was a muggleborn from Leeds. What lead him to create the Nimbus brooms is to apply the muggle concept of "aero-dy-namics" to broom making. Without witch many of the now popular moves such as the Wronski Feint would be pain suicide as you wouldn't be able to pull up before hitting the ground. He his wife and children are now among the richest muggleborns today." Neville said.

"oh my god look at the time we completely missed lunch and tea we must have been in here hours I'm going to want a copy of your notes at some point boys but I'm going to get a shower now cya tomorrow." Hermione said.

A.N. I looked it up and a literal translation legilemency litraly means reading mind so bugger snape and his there is no such thing as mind reading rant

A.N. I'm not sure about the historys I've included while certen of them are nessasary like uric nad Salazar are merlins is only nessasary to show that it isn't important the rest are completely useless but once I started wriging one I couldn't very well not include the others otherwise it wouldn't have made much sense.

A.N. also I just spent 3 hours spellchecking the last four chapter I feel like there are nothing but mistakes in it.


	9. Homes and Holidays

Chapter 9 – Homes and Holidays.

It had been another few weeks and the winter holidays where fast approaching. Several teachers had special lessons in the spirit of this. Flitwick had them all learning a simple warming charm for their fingers and such. McGonagall had them transfiguring thimbles into bells and balls into baubles for decorations. Even Snape had a mildly holiday themed lesson in that he had them all brew a simple digestive potion that could be taken directly after a meal or baked into it.

However some teacher's lessons seemed less like a holiday treat and more like a chore that had to be performed. Sinistra got them all to observe the sun as it approached its south most point and explained about the celebrations wizards usually have at this time of year. Such as Mōdraniht where an egg laying bird is ritually sacrificed and eaten. At first Harry had been disgusted by this until he realised there was very little difference between that and eating turkey on Christmas.

Sprout had them build a compost heap in the green house they had been working in. It was smelly and discussing work but it had afforded him a good laugh at Malfoy's face when he had found out what compost meant.

Moody had as promised tested them all he had gone beyond two and a half minutes though. He had kept at each student till he hit them most barely managed the required time a few of the fitter students managed three or four minutes. Harry had managed four before he had dived too far to one side and had nowhere to move too afterwards.

It is Hooch's lesson though that we find him and his friends in now. Much like Moody's lesson hers was a test. This time however the mood was very different 2 months without any of the showboating that was common in the first lesson had gotten them all used to riding. It really was like learning to ride a bike and how many eleven year olds would take more than two months to become adept at that.

Harry had just finished his test and flew to join Neville on the ground the exhilarating feeling of the wind in his hair ebbing as he slowed.

"Hey Nev how'd you think we did? Reckon we passed?" Harry asked.

"You did for sure you looked like you've been flying all your life. I'm more worried about Hermione though I don't think she's over her fear of heights yet." Neville replied.

"I dunno she was much better last week as long as nothing causes her to look down before its time to land she'll be fine. Your flight was pretty smooth too. Harry said.

"Yea, I've been coming to practice while the Gryffindor team was here, I asked Madam Hooch first though." Neville said.

"Dude, you could have told me I would have loved the extra time on a broom. I just feel so free while I'm up there. Its great." Harry said with clear enthusiasm for flying in his voice.

"Look she's up next." Neville said pointing to Hermione at the front of the queue of testers.

Hermione lifted off slowly and a bit shakily at first rising 10 feet before getting proper control over the broom, Harry and Neville winced at that. It wasn't long before she rose the remaining 10 feet to the beginning of the obstacle course.

Hermione hovered on the spot waiting for Madam Hooch to give her the go ahead. Hooch gave her a nod as she started her stop watch. Hermione had seemed to be taking a slow and steady approach to the course clearly still worried about falling off. She passed by the third set of floating coloured orbs forming a U bend at a steady pace. Now she had to navigate vertically as well as horizontally.

She moved upwards towards a hoop made of floating orbs before having to angle into an almost dive for the next hoop. As soon as she passed it there was another U bend followed by another hoop at a higher level.

Then came the bit Hermione had been dreading. It was a series of hoops at veering levels but this time they had obstacles in the way. Sometimes it was a billboard other times it was a windmill Hermione thought it was more than a little reminiscent of a crazy golf course.

She had passed around the side of the billboard and was heading towards the windmill getting its timing. She zoomed forwards passing between the blades of the windmill and though it's opening before stumbling to a stop as she reached the finish area on the ground.

"I did it, I did it" she yelled running towards Harry and Neville.

"Yes I think you did. Definitely better than your last attempt anyway." Harry said.

"Please don't remind me it wasn't my fault lavender distracted me as I was landing and you know that's my worst bit." Hermione retorted.

"Sure she did sure she did." Harry taunted sarcastically.

"Stop taunting her Harry you'll only end up with a bruised arm." Neville said as Hermione thumped Harry on his arm.

They got their results from Madam Hooch and as they had hoped they had all passed in fact there hadn't been a single failure.

"Now I'm sure some of you will feel you need no more practice at flying and while this may be true legally speaking, but I would strongly recommend everyone sign up for my next terms intermediate flying course. It is voluntary but it will give you the confidence you need for long distance flying and travel overseas. I also do not teach my advanced course to those who do not participate in the intermediate course; no one is too good for more practice!" Madam hooch said.

Later at dinner Hermione asked about her personal research project.

"Harry I haven't been able to find anything in the library on occlumency or legilemency in fact other than a few mentions of those subjects in history book you would think they don't exist. I was wondering if you could send a letter to Dumbledore for me and ask for information about them. Please." She said dragging out the ease in please.

"I dunno Hermione I doubt he wants to be bothered by school children all the time." Harry replied

"I dunno' mate he did say to send him a letter if we needed anything." Neville said.

"I know but surely that was just about our history projects I doubt he expects us to wright him for help on homework and stuff." Harry said.

"Neville's right Harry he did ask. Please. I really wanna know more I mean who wouldn't want better memory." Hermione pestered.

"Fine, fine, I'll wright him. Speaking of homework how is everyone doing with our pet project?" Harry asked.

"Thanks. I'm doing fine I've finished Circe and Cliodne and I'm just putting the finishing touches on Bridget Wenlock before I make hand outs for each." Hermione said.

"Err right yea well I've finished all mine, Falco Aesalon and Agrippa where the hardest but Miranda Goshawk was dead easy." Neville said.

"Cool, cool I've finished Flamel and Wendelin the Weird but I've still got a little more to write on Ignatia Wildsmith. I can't figure out if she left any family behind or ever had children." Harry said.

"Fair enough meet in the library on Sunday to talk about them yea?" Hermione asked.

"Sounds ok to me" Neville answered.

"I guess I have a letter to wright best get started on that I suppose." Harry sighed.

After tea in the common room Harry had just finished his letter to Albus when he asked Hermione to look it over see if she thought it was ok to send as it was her question he was asking.

_Dear Albus Dumbledore._

_ I'm writing to you again about our history project again, this time however its not about a person. The problem you see is when we finished our last batch of famous people to study Hermione was very interested in Uric the Oddballs occlumency skills. Before we rushed headlong into studying it we wondered how many others went mad studying it and if the two where related. We have been unable to find any proof one way or the other in the Hogwarts library and where wondering if you could shead some light on the subject. I also want to thank you for your help on our last batch your prospective was very helpful._

_Respectfully_

_Harry Potter._

_P.S. Merry Christmas (or whatever else you might celebrate)_

"Yea that seems find Harry" Hermione said after she finished reading it over.

"thanks, I'll go give it to Archie now then cya later" Harry said leaving Hermione to her pile of papers that she was obviously in the process of making into a dossier.

Sunday came very quickly after that it was the last day before those leaving for the holidays left on the train so things where a bit crazy people packing and hurriedly finishing homework. Harry and the group had decided not to do their magic lesson today because of the chaos and Hermione's need to pack after their history project in the library.

Harry had learned from Neville that Falco was the first animagus ever and that he had taken the form predictably of a falcon but other than that he wasn't very interesting. Agrippa however was apparently a contempory of Nicholas Flamel in his youth. Goshawk was less interesting in that her chief achievement was collecting a large number of commonly used spells and organising them in to difficulty and power requirements for her books.

From Hermione he had learned about as well as received folders on Circe, Cliodne and Bridget Wenlock. She had even taken the time to make up folders on their projects from last week for Harry and Neville.

Circe was an ancient Greek who apart from inventing transfiguration was also a great seer. She had also been the reason they couldn't find any information about artefacts left by others. Apparently she had been attacked in her youth and they had attempted to steal her crystal ball, the medium witch she used to guide her visions. She had after that bound the ball to her soul so that it could never be taken from her it had vanished when she died. It became a popular method of safe guarding dangours objects from theft or miss use its only downside was that it could only be used on objects the caster truly owned in the eyes of magic.

Cliodne was a healer and a druidess who was extremely skilled with potions and herbs she was also a bird animagus taking the form of a yellow tit apparently the Caladrius myth was supposedly about her. Bridget had been an arithmancer who had discovered the magical properties of the number seven by the use of a septagram each point representing a different day of the week and its associated planet allowing for balanced separation and restoration of things.

Harry had in turn taught them each about the people he had learned about. Wendelin the Weird had been an odd one she had apart from liking the feeling of being burnt at the stake, believed that witches and wizards where creatures of fire and that being burned at the stake was just a way to increase her powers.

Ignatia Wildsmith was difficult because Harry hadn't been able to find anything about her other than that she invented floo travel there had been no details on what helped with this discovery or why she thought putting your head into a fireplace to speak to someone was a good idea. Even more frustratingly Harry hadn't been able to find out why no one had thought to find a way that didn't involve bending down on stone floors to talk to people.

Nicolas Flamel had been the most interesting and Harry's own notes on the subject where quite large, not quite as large as he would imagine Hermione's to be if she had taken him but large none the less. It had started with him taking up alchemy in the mid 1400's after which he joined the French army against the English in the hundred year's war. He had even been at a castle when the English had besieged it; he had taken then all out with his alchemy leaving no trace of them by any record. He had went on to say that after leaving the army at the age of 47 the end of the war came swiftly afterwards. Other than living reclusively with his wife and taking the odd apprentice nothing really happened between then and now.

"Ok so I know the Christmas holidays are coming up so I'm not going to ask you to research anyone over the holidays. I mean I can't exactly expect Hermione to be able to find out about wizards away from Hogwarts n' I don't expect you to give up your holidays for what is essentially homework. Still I am interested in those Peverell's, beyond what I found when I was looking for Salazar's decedents they seemed some of the more interesting." Harry said after their history session.

"yea that's ok mate I have plans with gran for Christmas plus I need to go get a new wand and I wanna get used to using that instead of this one so that's gonna take a bit of time." Neville said.

"That's good I don't think I'd have had time to do much research any way my family usually go away for the Christmas holidays and I've been banned from taking books with me for the last two years." Hermione said getting a smirk from the boys.

The next day after Neville and Harry had helped Hermione with her trunk and waved her off at the carriage stop Harry was right back in the library researching. So it was that he didn't notice much of the chaos around the castle desks being moved, modifications being made and students trying to find new rooms to practice in.

It might seem easy to transfigure a window into a room or add a vent and truly it is. The problem is if that window is underground it doesn't help with the removal of smells or fumes. Even above ground the windows are similar if they aren't on the outside of the castle because while a magical window can be charmed to look like anything you want it cannot keep a constant stream of matter both ways without a constant supply of magic. Hence why professor Snape's classroom had been moved, supply cupboard and all out of the dungeons, up to the east wing along the edge of the castle.

Professor Snape had been told this would provide a reasonable amount of light for students to work by as well as filter out noxious fumes in the case of dangerous brews. He hadn't been happy about having to move but had understood the need. He thought at least this would cut down on the number of accidents he was forced to deal with from those who refused to follow simple step by step instructions.

Others that stayed in the castle from Gryffindor were the Weasleys. Neville had spent much of the beginning of the holidays playing chess with Ron when he was being polite enough to tolerate. The twins had been elusive but Harry had seen them a few times at lunch so he knew they were in the castle still. Percy had spent most of his time in the library studying for his O.W.L.s. he had even attempted to make conversation with Harry when he noticed Harry had spent most of the holidays alone.

"Harry, I hope you don't mind me asking but are you all right you've spent the entire holidays in here. I mean so have I but that's expected I do have my O.W.L.s this year after all but you don't need to be in here. You should be out playing in the snow or something." Percy asked.

"Huh" Harry said looking up from his research. "Look Percy its not that I don't appreciate the concern but I've never been keen on the Christmas holidays they are just a reminder to me of what I can't have. My "Relatives" aren't exactly fond of magic and therefore me so at times like Christmas when they are reminded I exist it's never a fun time for me. I like to just stay out of their way as much as I can these days."

"Oh, I'm sorry Harry I hadn't realised ill leave you be sorry for the interruption." Percy said.

A few days later at lunch the hall reduced down to one long table instead of the usual five consisting mainly of fifth and seventh years studying over the brake. Harry and Neville where talking about the rest of the holiday.

"I can hardly wait Harry I'm getting my own wand tomorrow, not that I don't like my dad's but it's just not right you know." Neville said.

"I know Nev I know." Harry sighed this had been the third time Neville had spoken of it today.

"You'll have to tell me all about it once you've gotten it. It took ages for him to find the right one for me. Weird old man seemed to get dead excited every time a wand wasn't right for me." Harry said.

"Really, that's odd he's supposed to get it right in the first few tries often first time according to my gran." Neville said with a bit of confusion.

"How?" Harry asked genuinely interested.

"I dunno I'll tell you what I'll ask him tomorrow." Neville suggested.

"Cool thanks man." Harry said.

The next few days where lonely for Harry, without Neville he was forced to realise just how few friends he had made at Hogwarts. Christmas came with surprises for Harry and pleasant ones for once.

First he had received a reply from Dumbledore along with a gift, something clearly soft wrapped in sparkly Purple wrapping paper. Harry read the letter first.

_Dear Harry._

_ I held off on writing to you so that it would arrive on Christmas for you. First let me thank you for your season's greetings and wish you a merry Christmas. I sent Fawkes to the school with a parcel for you. It is a cloak it once belonged to your father I hope that you can find some comfort in that and use it well._

_ Next let me caution you on occlumency it is an incredibly dangerous art one that should not be undertaken lightly. However having said that it is also incredibly useful done correctly it allows for near perfect memory recall. The best example I can give of just how dangerous it is, is the first step in the process its self. Again I caution against rushing ahead and doing this unsupervised._

_ The first step is to enter a meditative trance focused on the important events of your life allowing each event to come forward. Then you must strip each memory of its emotional content and categorise it, I'm sure you found this much in your research. The danger however lies in the fact these events make up much of who we are and altering your emotional attachment to each memory can have massive impact on your personality and even your ability to feel certain emotions._

_ If this is something you and your friends are truly interested in learning the best advice I can give you is that negative emotions as well as positive ones are essential to living a happy life. Further I have sent professor Snape my pensive (a device used to review memories.) he is an experienced occlumense and can help you though the first key steps of the process. I advise you to seek his assistance with this._

_Yours cordially_

_Albus Dumbledore._

After reading the letter Harry was concerned he hadn't realised that occlumency was that dangerous. Glad that Hermione had gotten him to wright Dumbledore he started to open his present when he noticed others. Finding a small bundle of presents at the foot of his bed Harry inspected them finding one each from Neville and Hermione and a few extra from some of the professors.

Harry had been glad that he had remembered to get them something too. From Neville he received a yo-yo he though it an odd thing to get but having tried it he found out why Neville got him it. When it reached the bottom unlike a normal yo-yo it made animal noises the first time it had mooed Harry had burst out laughing.

Hermione had sent him a selection box, it had been such a rarity that Harry had managed to sneak out chocolate from underneath the Dursley's noses that this was the first time he had ever actually had a Mars bar or a Crunchy.

He sent them each a small box of chocolate frogs something he figured was the wizarding equivalent of a selection box and a gift voucher for Flourish and Blots respectively. He hoped Neville got at least one card he needed from the box. He was sure though that Hermione would find something she could spend a few hours on from his gift.

Harry spent most of the morning alone savouring the happiness that came from having his friends remember him at charismas for the first time in his life. It was a bitter sweet kind of happiness he would have to remember to thank them for their gifts as small and inconsequential as they where they meant a lot to Harry.

It was later on in the day at lunch Harry was pleasantly surprised yet again this time by the Weasleys. They had sat next to him during the big dinner that had been prepared for the occasion and after professor McGonagall's speech about surrogate family's being just as important as real ones. They invited him out to play in the snow.

It was the first time Harry had played in the snow without being attacked by his cousin and his friends. Together they had built a snow man and with the help of a few others and some magic they had even built a miniature ice fort. Witch they then proceeded to destroy during a snowball battle witch even the fifth and seventh years got involved in, even a few teachers joined in. by the time the day wound down Harry was soaked from head to toe with melted snow. But he had thoroughly enjoyed the day and made what he hope where some new friends.

Neville returned the next day with his gran and his new wand. It was made of cherry and unicorn hair and was bendy but not swishy.

"Right so I got my wand on the second try and then I asked him how come he normally gets everyone's wand so quickly and that yours took so long." Neville said after showing Harry his new wand and waving it a about a bit to show it wasn't swishy.

"Yea and… what did he say?" Harry asked when Neville didn't immediately continue.

"Right well it's a bit complicated. He said that with proper application and study in the field of divination one can observe the destiny of some objects and people. Bit long winded but he said that some people's futures are so uncertain that even the smallest thing can bring about massive change. That creates more destinies for you to observe and each one matches a different wand in this case. It didn't make much sense to me but apparently he uses divination to predict witch wand belongs to each of us some could have belonged to more than one possible future of yours." Neville said.

"Wow I see what you mean about confusing definitely something to look into though seems like a pretty cool skill to have being able to see an objects destiny n stuff." Harry said.

A.N. you'll notice I have made it clear Harry has at least some interest in his family's history much like tom did also while the brothers are not "widely known to wizards" they are known to the hallow seekers like xenofilios lovegood. Given that morphin guant knew he was decented from one of them its clear that they are at least important to pure bloods too and there must be a reason they are thought by the seekers to be the brothers from the tail.

A.N. I intend to make divination a bit more important for the average wizard other wise why would it be taught at all in a school other than just being taught to those that had had a vision before.

A.N. I also put in that scene with percy because id expect Harry would be a lot more insular on Christmas than any other time of year being that its ephesised as a time for family with his own hateing him id expect he would come to like time alone at Christmas instead.

A.N. also with the histories I actually did do the research for the names and a genral idea of what they did and embellished from there

A.N. with regard to follow on sentences in speech I find that people actualy do speak in them or at least what I understand to be follow on sentences I've been reediting the first few chapters to make them more readable but its slow work because its just not as fun as writing new stuff so the first few will at some point be sorted out


	10. Old School New

**Chapter 10 – Old School new.**

Harry was glad when his friends returned from their holidays. He was excited to tell them what he had found in his extensive stay in the library. They had been too tired after the train journey back to Hogwarts to talk to him about anything other than sleep.

The first week back didn't afford them much time for talk either. There had been several changes in the classes. It started with McGonagall's class, when they arrived they were treated to a speech from the professor.

"Right class as I'm sure you are aware there have been several changes to the curriculum across the board. I will be explaining this to you and professor Flitwick is explaining it to the other half of the year." The professor began.

"first we this term we will be increasing the amount of magic you are going to be using, so you will lightly go to bed every school night tired. This is so that the amount of magic available to you is increased, previously we would have let your progress though the first year curriculum one spell at a time and then become proficient in using it each lesson. Now what we will be doing is once you have learned the lessons spell you are to practice using the spells previously learned."

"The idea is that instead of building up your reserves slowly over the year is that we will build them heavily now that you have a better grasp of your magic. The reason for the change in the curriculum is that some second and third years are having been having trouble with the amount of magic required for some spells at the start of their respective years."

"For transfiguration things are slightly different given the nature of the subject. Instead of repeating your old work I want you each to try and improve the detail on your finished products. For example in your first lesson we transfigured a match to a basic sowing needle. What I want from you now is something a bit more fancy like this." She said demonstrating by flicking her wand at a match she had pulled out of her draw.

The result was certainty different from before, this time the needle was covered in ornate etchings and instead of being a dull grey indicative of steel, it was a shiny silver colour. What caught Harry's attention though was the way the light bounced off it as she moved it; it was one of the shiniest objects he had ever seen.

"the idea behind this is to build up your focus you may find that you have to spend a few minutes before each casting to get a clear enough picture in your mind to cast properly. Very little of transfiguration is about power, well at least when dealing with objects smaller than a horse. It is much more about having a clear picture in your mind, you'll find the more you picture finer details the less time it takes to summon up an image of what you want in your head. I'm quite fond of using a tartan pattern on most of my cloth transfigurations."

"Right now for this lesson we will be changing ball into a bean bag, this is different to what we have done before for two reasons. First being that the bean bag is made up of lots of little balls and second we are changing a hard solid object, the rubber ball, into a soft malleable object, the bean bag. Now the trick to this is to get a clear image in your mind of the whole object inside and out. You need to picture the little balls inside the bean bag as well as the material of the outer sack. It is also helpful to try and imagine how the material feels in your hands." The professor said as she started handing out said rubber balls.

When she had finished handing out the balls she returned to the front of the class and demonstrated the spell on the ball, transfiguring it into a tartan been bag. "This is what I expect from you this lesson now this being a bit more complex I don't expect all of you to get it this lesson as such your homework will be to work on it for next week. The spell is the same as usual "aboe" I'll let you know when fifteen minutes has passed so you can start working on improving the detail of your old work." The professor said.

Unlike most of the class Harry didn't jump right in with attempting the spell this being a fair bit more complex he sat wand in hand and thought. First he started with the image of the little hollow plastic balls, he started with one imagining it to be White, and from there he imagined lots of them. Next he thought of the material, Dudley's bean bag chair had been made from corduroy and always made him shiver when he had touched it during his cleaning, still it was a very tactile sensation and Harry could remember it clearly.

Finally he felt he was ready to attempt the spell, with his first wave of his wand the spell didn't worked only he had forgotten to in vision the balls inside the bag. Fortunately McGonagall had prepared for that eventuality and the desks had each a small lip around the edge to stop the balls rolling on the floor. A quick "finite" and he was ready to try again.

This attempt was much better now he had a clear picture of the individual components he just pictured the finished product. This produced the results he was hoping for he was only one who managed the spell in the first part of the lesson before McGonagall told them to practice their detail work.

Harry started with the match to needle though he was at a loss as to how he could get the needle to be as reflective as the professors, so he started with attempting an etched pattern in the metal. This wasn't as successful as he had expected. Apparently he hadn't thought about the depth of the etching and it had barely shown up, until he inspected it with his fingers he couldn't even tell it was there. His next attempt was much better.

He continued on with the rest of the lesson, finding that the more detail he imagined into each object the easier it was to add more for the next. Building upon the patterns he had from the previous transfigurations. Applying the pattern he had used at the start of the lesson was almost second nature by the end of it.

The difference in the quality of work from all students from the start of the lesson to the end was clear for them to see almost everyone had moved on from basic shape changes and had used colours and patterns by the end of the lesson. It was only Hermione however that had made objects made from more than one material with a single transfiguration. She had applied this week's lesson to the problem and had created a black and white button with a marble effect pattern; it had even earned Gryffindor five points.

Much of the rest of the week's lessons where of a similar vain. Potions being the biggest surprise the class room had changed. Instead of being in the dungeon it was now on the first floor and it was also along the outer wall. Harry and the rest of the class hadn't appreciated this until professor Snape's lecture.

"As I am sure you have been told many classes have changed however very little of the actual teaching of mine will change. I'm sure even the most oblivious of you have noticed we have changed class room." Professor Snape said receiving sniggers from several of the class.

"As the more observant of you may have noticed we now have windows that open. I'm not pointing this out so that you may observe the weather; I am however pointing it out because it was a key factor in my decision in the placement of the new classroom."

"For those of you who don't know while we had 'windows' in the dungeons they were magical and though they gave off light enough to read and see by. They could not provide ventilation nor would the light produced be conducive to growing plants. This is why we are now in a classroom along the outer wall these windows are real and provide proper ventilation as well as natural light."

"Again I'm pointing this out for a very important reason. Where possible you should always attempt to use a well-ventilated room when brewing potions. Some of the more advanced potions can have disastrous reactions with fumes in the air. Frequently the potion its self is useless and it is the vapours we want. So as with other things mentioned at the start of term this is a lab safety issues. The professor lectured.

Harry and Hermione had been fascinated to learn that the windows in the old classroom hadn't been real. Neville had however already known that but hadn't thought anything of it saying "well yea we have some like that at home like in the bathroom where you just want something nice to look at while you relax."

Harry had also been quietly disturbed by Snape's appearance this had been the first time he had seen him close up under natural light. His skin was oily and pale and his hair though it wasn't as noticeable in the dark dungeons was slick with grease. Harry privately hope this was from the lack of ventilation in the old class room and that he wouldn't end up like that now they had moved.

Moody defence class too had been interesting for Harry at least it began like most of the other classes this week with a lecture from the professor.

"class I am pleased that you all managed to survive the dodging test I gave you before the holidays and while I would prefer you be able to keep dodging much longer than that I have been informed that we are going to start you on magical shielding this term in order to build your reserves. Now I'm not adverse to this I am however against that you abandon dodging altogether. As such I may decide to test you on your dodging later this year too."

"What we have planned for this term is to teach you a basic shield charm and then have it bombarded by nearly harmless spells until you cannot hold it up any longer and it collapses. This much like your dodging I expect to be very tiring at first."

"However before we start with that there is something you much all understand about magic. I cannot emphasize this enough, every single spell you do, all of em, translate to an effect. Now that may seem obvious but consider this for a moment what is a shield charm?" Moody said leaving the class for a few moments before a few people raised their hands.

"You" he said pointing at a Slytherin girl.

"It's a charm to stop spells getting to you sir?" she asked.

"Well that's the thing ain't it girl that's what happens with a properly applied shield charm but what is it, I'll tell you because it's hard to understand. The effect of a shield charm, of which there are many different types, is to put something the spell directed at you can affect instead of you."

"To help you understand this I want you to picture this if someone threw a spear at you would a wall of stone stop it, obviously yes. However if someone attacked that same wall of stone a ball of lava would you still be so confident to stand behind it, I very much doubt it. Now if you translate those to spells an Aegis shield may protect from a piercing spell but it wouldn't protect you from elemental spells."

"Similarly with protego, which gives the spell a new magical target to act upon, wouldn't even affect the piercing spell, it would carry on right until it hit something tangible." Moody finished to a few still confused faces and a few understanding ones and amazingly to a hand in the air.

"Sir?" the boy asked when noticed. "What about the unforgivable then aren't they supposed to be unblock able, whys that surely you can just transfigure something to stop it"

"Well lad that's a bit of a complex question, you see all spells have a target as well as an effect. Just as a jelly legs spell targets the magic in your legs to make them act like jelly a piercing spell targets solid matter. They don't target anything else; again there are obviously exceptions such as mithril and gold and in some cases silver. The target of each of the unforgivable is not in fact your magic or your body it's your soul." Moody said to the stunned and silent class.

Again though the boy had his hand up.

"What's your name lad?" Moody asked.

"Blasé Zabini sir" the boy answered before asking his new question "then why can't you just transfigure a gold object I mean if it's just temporary to defend against these spells why not?"

"This ain't a transfiguration class but let me give you a quick explanation of gamps first law. You cannot conjure mithril gold or silver on a permanent basis because of the magical properties each contains. It's technically possible to do it but the power required is not something a single wizard could do. For example to conjure silver you would have power the spell for the whole lunar month while it absorbed the power from the moon. Gold and mithril have much more ludicrous requirements."

"Even so without the power each absorbs from their respective sources they would be useless against the spells. It is the very power of the time they spend in their respective environments that give them the power to defend against these spells." Moody finished this time Blaze didn't ask anything else.

"Now as I was saying we will be moving on to shields we will be starting with a very basic protego shield. The aim is to have you all able to hold up a shield for at least ten minutes by the end of the year but I don't expect anywhere near that long right now. I would actually be surprised if any of you got the spell to last past the first spell." Moody finished.

"Now the idea behind this spell is as I said earlier to throw out a magical target for the spell to hit instead of you. In order to do this you must not only push as much magic out of your wand as you can but you must also envisage the area that the magic is going to cover. Let me show you a few examples so you understand."

Moody prodded his wand forward the effect of it was that there was a large semi-transparent blue segment of a sphere in front of him. "That's one variety but that's an awful lot of magic to cover such a large area for this spell."

When he prodded his wand this time there was a small ball of a much denser looking semi-transparent blue shield spell. " this uses much less magic and can take many more spells, the problem with this is its quite small so you are going to have to move it into the path of the spell rather than relying upon the spell hitting its area of its own accord." Moody lectured

"Now I want you each to try it and when you are comfortable that you have a working shield come to the front of the class and I will test it. Well get on with it then I've talked at you enough for one lesson."

The spell was no problem for any of the three it was very much how they manipulated their wandless magic only with a wand most of the rest of the class got it soon after. The interesting thing that happened is when Moody tested Harry's shield.

"right up ya' come lad put your shield up and ill test it."

Harry cast his shield he had gone with the ball of magic type that Moody had shown the class second. When Moody cast his first spell it wasn't followed up with anything as he obviously expected the shield to fail. When it didn't and the spell was harmlessly absorbed by it he cast another. After three more he told Harry to see him after class before moving on to test others.

When the class came to a close and the others had filtered out Harry approached Moody.

"Sir, you wanted to speak to me?" he said quietly thinking he must have done something to get himself in trouble.

"Aye lad, don't worry ya ain't in trouble." Moody said and Harry relaxed letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"what I wanna' talk to ya' about is your power. The first spell I shot at everyone was a harmless jelly legs spell. It's a week spell and its target is the magic in your legs. The second and third spells were also jelly legs but the third spell I shot at you was a stunner. It's much more powerful and I fully expected it to break your shield. That it didn't is what I want to talk to you about."

"You obviously have a lot more power than the rest of the class and while that's great for you it does bring up a few things. First that now you know the spell and it clearly didn't tax you nearly as much as is necessary to increase your reserves we need to find something else for you to do for the rest of the year. It also brings up the question of where you got that power, so are you going to tell me." Moody asked.

At first Harry didn't answer as the possibilities of what might happen if he told moody. Maybe they wouldn't let him do magic at home any more Hermione had told him she hadn't been allowed to use her wand over Christmas. But then again maybe Moody would help him learn some new spells and shields. Finally he decided he would have to tell him he didn't want his professors thinking he did something evil to increase his power or something.

"Sir, I've been practicing magic regularly since I was seven." Harry finally said.

"Come again lad did you say seven. Who's wand did you use, where did you find it." Moody demanded a little more forcefully than he intended.

"I didn't use one sir. I had a few incidents of accidental magic really close to each other and it left me stranded on the school roof so I had to use magic to get back down and well after that I practiced so I could use it when I liked." Harry said all in one breath hoping to avoid punishment he thought Moody wanted to impose.

"Pheeew" Moody sighed out "well if that isn't interesting I don't know what is. Wandless magic at your age. There aint' many who can do it at all even Dumbledore can only do bits and pieces." Moody mused aloud.

"Show me" he asked when he had finished thinking aloud.

"Er, ok" Harry responded before gathering his magic and gesturing to one of the desks in the room to make it float for a few seconds. Moody's eyes real and magical where fixed on Harry's extended arm as the table ascended.

"So tell me, what else can you do with it?" Moody asked much kinder this time.

"Well I used to get the pots and pans to wash themselves back at the Dursley's and I could make everyone ignore me too, but that doesn't seem to work on wizards. Oh and I could teleport too but Neville tells me you can't do that in Hogwarts." Harry said making sure to leave out that he could make his pens and quills do his homework. It wouldn't do to have a teacher tell him off for it, especially now Neville and Hermione where getting the hang of it.

"That's some pretty advanced magic. Though thinking about it each of them falls in the category of being advanced because of the force of will needed to make them happen. Have you tried any charms or transfiguration since you got here lad?" Moody asked.

"Yea, but I can't do any transfiguration at all and I can only do a few charms and none of them have bolts, like lumos and stuff." Harry said.

"hrmm, I'm not an expert in transfiguration myself, rarely used it after I passed my N.E.W.T.s. but I am very good at charms and what I can tell you about the spells that have a bolt component to them is they are compressed. It's not something you normally learn until your sixth or seventh year, but it's useful for duelling the more you compress your magic in the bolt the faster it moves through the air and the thinner and harder to see it is." Moody said.

"Well that's what we are going to during your defence lessons I'm going to teach you to control the compression of your spells using your wand. Hopefully you will be able to transfer that skill over to wandless magic. Ok?" Moody asked.

"Yes sir, thank you." Harry replied.

"One more thing Potter I'm gonna let your other teachers know but I also want to let Albus know too do you mind?" Moody asked.

"Ok sir. Er sir, I taught Neville and Hermione to do it too" Harry said now he was sure moody wasn't going to punish him.

"Really. Well I think I'll have words with them too when I see them next." Moody responded finally letting Harry leave.

When it finally came around to Sunday and the three could get together again, for what had mostly dissolved into Neville and Hermione practicing writing with their floating quills. Harry had decided to use this time to let them know about his letter from Dumbledore.

"Stop for a minute please, I wanna talk about this letter I got from Dumbledore about occlumency." Harry said.

Hermione's attention was now squarely on Harry in an almost creepy way as Neville let his quill float down to the desk. Harry passed he letter round letting the two of them read it before he continued.

"So what do you think? It sounds like as long as we are careful it is a useful thing to know" Harry asked.

"Oh yes definitely I think we should go see Snape as soon as possible." Hermione said.

"Oh yea, useful no doubt but it means spending more time with Snape everyone's idea of fun I'm sure." Neville said voice thick with sarcasm getting a snicker from Harry.

"I know it's probably not going to be fun but I got the impression Dumbledore uses it and that it's useful." Harry said.

"Useful, useful Harry just think how much near perfect recall could help with exams or how useful it would be to remember those obscure facts you might need for winning arguments. Harry this is positively the holy grail of learning aids." Hermione desperately pleaded.

"Ok, ok I get it Hermione you want to learn it and truthfully so do I, so I guess we should go see Snape. I say that you should practice your control over your quills in your own time and that next week we should go see him during this time." Harry suggested.

"That seems reasonable; it's always good to have time to work yourself up to spending time in Snape's company." Neville said getting a little smile from the group.

"Something else I wanted to talk about, we'll let you know about." Harry said evasively.

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Neville said.

"Well you know when moody kept me back after defence." Harry said.

"Yea, what about it." Neville said.

"Well professor moody wanted to talk about why my shield didn't collapse when he thought it should have. Well any way long story short I had to tell him I could do wandless magic and that you could to, sorry." Harry said.

"Will we get extra credit for it then? Do you think he will help us learn more, I mean it has kinda plateaued?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno but he did give me an idea for getting into those charms that we haven't managed so far. So maybe but I get the impression he can't do it." Harry said.

"What idea did he give you; do you think it will help?" Hermione asked.

"He was saying how in N.E.W.T. level charms you learn to compress your spells in your wand to make them move faster. I think that's probably what's missing, I think you've gotta compress the magic for bolt spells and a wand does that a little on its own." Harry said.

"mmmm sounds hard, I mean if they don't teach it till after O.W.L.s it will probably take some time to learn I hope we can learn it but I still think occlumency is more useful sounding." Hermione said.

"Probably, let's not worry about it moody said he is going to teach me to do it in the defence lessons so he will probably teach you too." Harry said.

Harry finished up giving Archimedes an owl treat before they left the room for the library.

In the study area behind the first row of stacks in the library where they had previously gone over profiles they now sat ready to listen to Harry's new work.

"Ok so I know you guys didn't do any of them this time but you still have to sit and listen to mine. So listen you know I looked into these Peverell brothers well here is why I started to look in the first place. They each had two dates of death."

"I'm going to do this a bit different to our other profiles because all three grew up together and lived close etc. so from what I can gather they collectively invented portkeys. But the interesting part is as I said they have two dates of death, the first were all the same, I think they were working on some portkey experiment and it went wrong. A year later they all turned up in the village square saying that they had been transported to a faraway land and that it took so long to get back."

"So obviously they didn't die, now here comes the interesting part. When they returned they each had an enchanted item. The first brother, Antioch, had what he claimed to be an unbeatable wand and was soon murdered in his sleep the wand was never found."

"The second brother, Cadmus, is another interesting one now I couldn't find anything concrete other than his wife had died while they were away and shortly after returning hung himself. I did however find a story I think relates to this witch I will tell you after. I do know his son survived him and was raised by the third brother. Ignotus."

"So Ignotus was the only brother that lived to be old having raised both his own children his brothers and finishing the portkey research. Apparently portkeys are huge in travel because they can cross huge distances whereas apparition can only go about two, three hundred miles. Which is admittedly is a lot but not as much as portkeys."

"Side note on portkeys, cos I wondered what they were so I'm sure Hermione does too. A portkey is a portal inside an object that drags those touching it together to a destination. Before portkeys people used to use portals, ether inside of a frame like a door or free floating. But they both had their own problems. Framed portals had the problem of those who entered it would land separated in a five mile radius of the destination of the portal. The free floating ones where used to send objects large distances and while much more accurate they needed too much power for the normal wizard to use."

"Now here is the story, you have to know it because while I couldn't find any evidence of artefacts left behind by ether of the other two brothers I do believe they left them and I'll show you why when I've finished telling you this story. Now I found it in a book called The Tales of Beedle the Bard, who died without children and was a second child of one of the third brother's decedents. So I believe this story may actually be something of a family story that was passed down over the years." Harry said.

"Oh yea I've heard them gran used to read them to me when I was younger." Neville interrupted before Harry began telling the story.

"_There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure."_

"_And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him."_

"_So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother."_

"_Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead."_

"_And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility."_

"_Then death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts."_

"_In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination."_

"_The first brother travelled on for a week or more reaching a distant village, he sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the dual that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and how it made him invincible."_

"_That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat."_

"_And so Death took the first brother for his own."_

"_Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death appeared at once before him."_

"_Yet she was silent and cold, separated from him as though by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join her."_

"_And so Death took the second brother for his own."_

"_But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life." _

"Now I know it's a fairy tale" Harry said making air quotes with his fingers as he said fairy tale.

"But, "he said extended the u in but. "I also got a gift from Dumbledore for Christmas and here is where it gets interesting." He continued as he pulled out his Cloak of Invisibility to show the others.

"Wow that's a pretty damn good quality invisibility cloak I saw my dad's when I was younger before it faded. Why'd Dumbledore send you invisibility cloak this one must be brand new" Neville said having tried it on.

"See that's the thing Neville I did my own research on invisibility cloaks too, and I found most fade in five to ten years. But here is the thing I'm sure you noticed in Dumbledore's letter that it belonged to my father. Now even if he acquired it just before his death it should be almost completely useless now." Harry said.

"So now if you put together the few facts such as I am a direct descendent of the youngest of three brothers and the oldest of those brothers was murdered for having a powerful wand, and Beedle's story who is also an ancestor of mine. It could well be that several parts of that story are true, as such I did a bit more research on wands several wizards in history have since claimed to have extra powerful wands and the like. But the stone has never popped up. Could you just imagine how much we could learn with that stone though" Harry said with a far off look in his eyes.

"I dunno Harry that seems pretty sketchy to me, I mean it's not as if you have any proof that any of these powerful wands are even the same wand or that the stone ever existed in the first place." Hermione said trying to get Harry to see sense.

"Look I know it's farfetched but hear me out. Imagine you have this Cloak of Invisibility that is perfect and you want to make sure your family doesn't just get rid of it. How would you do that, you make it legendry obviously to do that there must be a story about it. So you tell your son or daughter the tale and give them the Cloak. Eventually a member of your family thinks it would be a good idea to sell the story to make some money and puts it together with others in a book." Harry argued earnestly.

"I agree with Hermione Harry, even if they are real and you have one what makes you think you could find the stone, I assume it's the stone you want with the way you said it. If it even exists it's been lost since almost as soon as it was created." Neville said.

"You don't understand just think of the things that we could learn if we could talk to the dead, we could ask Merlin about his life or Morgana about hers or any of the greatest witches and wizards about how they did what they did. It's potentially the best learning aid imaginable far better than occlumency." Harry said with the kind of gusto that only the truly enraptured can muster.

"Look let's just agree to disagree and move on to our next study project" Hermione said trying to get Harry to another subject of conversation.

"Ok fine if you don't want to help me with the project fine" Harry said dejected.

"I was told some stories as a child by my parents like the tale of Babba Yaga and Handsel and Gretel, I'd like to see how much truth there are in them" Hermione said.

"Ooou that's a good idea I wish I'd thought of that" Harry said completely distracted from his earlier thought trying to think of fairy tales he might be able to research.

"Ah that's it, I'm going to see if there is any truth to Dracula and lord of the rings, what about you Nev?" Harry said as the inspiration hit him.

"Dunno mate I think I'm going to research Grindelwald and the statute of secrecy grans always going on about it." Neville said.

"Well I'm going to try and get a bit more research on invisibility cloaks done I'll cya back at the dorms." Harry said walking into the stacks leaving the others to their deliberation on his sanity.

A.N. I've also decided the potter family money comes from the tales of Beedle the bard sales

A.N. I am giving Harry an obsession with the hallows because all the really great witches and wizards had obsessions in my world or at least I imagine them to like Morgana wanting the throne back from her brother or Dumbledore with the hallows or Voldemort with immortality etc.

A.N. I am trying to make it clear that no teacher knows everything just as moody knows nothing about wandless magic (for clarification the only ones that will appear in my story are Voldemort, the Flamel's and Harry I may or may not make Grindelwald capable I'm thinking not though having spent the last 50 years in prison and had a keen wand obsession before that)

A.N. I also want to point out that before wands bolt charms where unthought-of of and transfiguration didn't exist. Which is also why alchemy is something of a dying art as transfiguration has mostly replaced it?

A.N. I have just noticed I have turned my professor Snape into my secondary school chemistry teacher Mr Parlin

A.N. one thing I really hate about posting here is my nice formatting for letters and stuff just goes completely out of the window when it's posted and lines that previously had indents and underlining just don't translate.

A.N. I don't intend to take the history into 2nd year but there needs to be some consistency to what they are doing first year. Most of the rest of the history is irrelevant now any way or at least minor in importance


	11. The Life and Times of Everyone Else

**Chapter 11 – The Life and Times of Everyone Else.**

Draco had been excited to start Hogwarts, finally it was time to show pride as part of the Malfoy family. He would should those mudbloods and blood traitors what it meant to be pureblood. His father had tutored him in potions ready for the start of school though he had never been allowed to use a wand, something he had been endlessly frustrated with.

When he got to Hogwarts things had started well he had been top of the class in potions and had done fairly well in all the wanded classes. What had annoyed him though was soon potter was top in every class that actively used magic and it seemed he was utterly uninterested in a rivalry with Draco. At least when it came to flying lessons he had been able to put that Weasley in his place, potter hadn't even been good enough to pass without taking the class so perhaps he wasn't all that.

Then things had taken a turn for the worse that pathetic stuttering waste of oxygen that dared call itself a professor had run screaming into the great hall during the Halloween feast about trolls in the dungeons. Not only had the Halloween feast been interrupted but that stupid mudblood loving fool Dumbledore had sent the students back to their dorms. All of that wouldn't have been so bad if the troll hadn't decided he was the perfect supper snack and broken and humiliate him in front of all the Slytherins.

It hadn't been till the next day that he had woken up his mother was by his bedside in the hospital wing and told him his father had come to make things right. At first he was pleased at this his father always made things right if he had come to put that old fool in his place perhaps he could do the same to the inept Quirrell.

It wasn't till later when his father arrived in the hospital wing that Draco decided he wasn't as pleased with his father's intervention as he thought he would be. Oh he was pleased that Dumbledore was getting the boot so to speak, but he was upset that despite his injured state he was expected to play a part in his father's political mechanisations'. It wasn't so much that he minded helping his father advance their position in the wizarding world but the thought that he had to tiptoe around those like potter and that Weasley traitor was just abominable.

"Draco I'm pleased that you are ok." His father told him.

"Thank you father." He had replied.

"Draco you simply couldn't have provided us a better opportunity than this already I have been able to secure the ministers promise that he will evict Dumbledore from the castle. If we play this right we may even be able to secure a position as minister for myself during the next elections." Lucius said.

"Father, I thought that you already had the minister under control why would you want to be minister?" Draco asked.

"Son understand keeping the corrupt under your thumb is both expensive and progressively less effective. To begin with they are susceptible to black mail if you have the right dirt but afterwards they require gold in ever increasing amounts Cornelius has long over run his credit. It is time he was replaced it is cheaper and more effective to replace him with myself than another stooge." His father explained after checking the room for portraits and other occupants.

"I understand father." Draco said.

"Now to do this I am going to require some participation on the part of your mother and yourself. Your mother will be posing for photos and the like for the press and giving an interview here and there as will I. with Dumbledore gone I can arrange for a proper head for Hogwarts witch will lightly result in changes. I have a few other plans in the works too but it's too early to see if they will pan out."

"what I am going to need from you is for the next few years until the election is to be on your very best behaviour in Hogwarts with the lightly change coming your behaviour and results will directly reflect on whether or not the change has been positive. What that means is I need you to cease antagonising the Weasleys, at least directly, but I also need you to buckle down in lessons and perform well, not that you haven't done so already McGonagall had very positive things to say about your work." Lucius said.

"Yes father I understand" Draco sighed.

"It'll be ok son it will serve as excellent practice for you to learn patience for dealing with fools and incompetents." Narsissa said while stroking his hair.

That hadn't been the worst of it though either the new defence professor was mad. He had had them dodging stinging hexes almost every lesson since he started teaching. He was sure Moody took a perverse pleasure in hexing him he certainly seemed to try harder to hit him over the other students. Annoyingly ether Potter was really good at dodging or Moody was going easier on him than others.

Things had continued on like that for a while for Draco. Despite his best efforts he wasn't able to beat Potter or his two friends the squib and the mudblood in any of his classes except potions. He had even tried forming a study group but his usual companions of Crabe and Goyle had been utterly useless in the endeavour.

When the holidays had come Draco had been pleased to see his mother and father again and get some time away from that sadistic bastard Moody. It had been a nice holiday for Draco he had gotten some expensive chocolates from the continent from his mother and his father had given Draco a custom made dragon hide leather wand holster. Draco had played with his new holster lots getting a feel for the way his wand shot into his palm and had tried quick drawing in front of a mirror when he thought no one was looking. Witch would have been fine if he hadn't heard his mother giggling shortly afterwards.

With the new headmistress being Neville's grandmother Draco had decided that if he was to help his father's machinations he should make friends with Neville. He hadn't had the opportunity yet almost every time he saw the boy he was with potter and the mudblood or he was talking with professor sprout. At least one good thing had come from his father removing Dumbledore the potions room was much closer to what they had at home now and he could breathe without fear of choking.

Draco wasn't the only one whose year had taken an unexpected turn Snape though he hadn't been looking forward to the year he hadn't expected anything interesting to really happen either. First during the summer the then professor Dumbledore had asked him to devise a trap that could be fitted into a room in the castle that could be potentially deadly as well as disallowing forward passage or reverse passage, but that could also be solved if necessary.

It had been a hard task and had consumed most of his summer holidays; he hadn't had time to make any of the potions he usually did that helped him turn a tidy profit from the summers. Eventually he had come up with an enchanted potions fire tied into the Hogwarts wards with corresponding potions to allow passage either way with trap potions to render the victim unconscious for later interrogation. He had later had to add a logic puzzle due to Dumbledore's lack of ability to recognise the difference between the very similar potions. The real trick to it though had been tying in the potions and the puzzle to the school wards so that they would be randomized every time someone entered the room.

He had been quite proud of his solution to the problem Dumbledore had presented, not that he had any idea why the old man had wanted such a trap. Finding potions and subtle differences and additions to each that would not allow passage past one fire but allow it past another was a stoke of brilliance on his part not that anyone would ever recognise it.

His first lessons with the first years wasn't as bad as he expected Potter's child wasn't as utterly disrespectful as his farther and showed at least a glimmer of common sense. He was pleased that his godson had been an excellent student, precise with every action he performed separating each ingredient and washing down his chopping board and knife in-between each.

It was at the first staff meeting that he had found out what the trap he had created was for and to say he was displeased would have been an understatement, he was furious. He wasn't the only one either, apparently Dumbledore had each of the senior staff and a few others devise traps to protect Nicolas Flamel's philosopher's stone. Snape couldn't figure why Dumbledore had brought it here rather than taken it back to the alchemist.

"Dumbledore why did you not just take it back for Nicolas when you got your tip off about the brake in, bringing such a thing here is asking for trouble and now with these traps you've had us devise there is no telling what's going to happen. I only hope you see the folly of your actions before it's too late." Snape had argued feverously.

"I could not have taken the stone back to its rightful owner Nicolas has been traveling the last few years and not only is he currently in Australia but the stone is something of an oddity, it emits magic that makes travel by port key or flame such as Fawkes's impossible. Given the magic it emits I didn't want to chance crashing one of those muggle flying machines when normal magic is risky to use around muggle equipment. I intend to return it to him as soon as feasibly possible but until such a time I must keep it safe. I cannot very well keep it safe if I cannot monitor it." Dumbledore explained as if to a simple child and Snape had to admit it made a certain amount of sense.

"But what about the children surely if there was a brake in at Gringott's looking for it whoever was after it may come here searching for it. Given that they are willing to risk war with the goblins what's to say they wouldn't take children hostages to get what they want or worse kill them." Sprout argued.

"Pomona my dear it's not as if I announced to the world I was keeping what the thief was after at Gringott's here only those in this room even know that it is in this castle." Dumbledore replied calmly.

It had been only a month later that the catastrophe with the troll had happened Dumbledore had instructed him to check on the traps and ensure no one had passed the first. While this was happening his godson had been injured by a troll he had been lucky to survive.

Dumbledore had been fired for his mistake though thankfully he had taken the stone with him apparently he was going to travel using boats to get the alchemist his stone back. It wasn't until he heard of Quirrell's suicide he had thought it suspicious. Yes the troll was part of his trap but each of the traps where equally dangerous and Dumbledore had ordered the traps. Perhaps he was the one after the stone or perhaps it was merely coincidence.

Things had taken yet another turn for the worse when Minerva had hired Alastor Moody as the new defence professor. The man had a keen dislike of anyone who had so much as dabbled in the dark arts as much as the man hated the dark arts he didn't really understand them as so many before him refused to see as well.

Snape had known since he was young that the dark arts where not as bad as they were made out to be. The main reason the dark arts were termed dark was because each and every one required a sacrifice of some sort. Some were as small as feeling an emotion for a short time such as anger or hate; others needed greater sacrifices of pain or blood. Those there the most useful kind often used for healing the severely wounded or sick. It was only the vilest of Black Magic that needed true sacrifices such as resurrection and immortality rituals and some very evil binding ones.

Moody had more than once tried to interrogate him on his activates during the last war with Voldemort so far he had managed to avoid him.

The first staff meeting with the new headmistress went surprisingly better than he had expected.

"First let me assure you that you will all be keeping your jobs I don't blame any of you for the actions of Albus. I have known him a long time and I know that he is very selective with who he tells what so I suspect none of you had any idea what the traps where for when you designed them." New headmistress Longbottom said.

"Now the first thing on the agenda for today is going to be change. What we have been given here is a chance to make the way lessons are taught better. What I want from each of you is a list of the possible improvements that could be made to each subject form the smallest thing of new desks or black boards and the like to the very things that are taught all together. Any comments?" she asked.

"Well I have noticed second and third years tend to struggle at the start of each year with the power requirements for the spells." professor Flitwick said several of the active magic teachers nodded in agreement.

"I see and what do you see as a potential solution to said problem?" Madam Longbottom asked.

There was silence for quite a while before Moody spoke up with a surprisingly insightful solution.

"well as I see it there are two options we have ether got to make the students more powerful before the start of their second and third year or we have got to shift the syllabus around so that the less powerful spells come first assuming of course you don't already do that." He said nodding his head to indicate the other teachers.

"I know for my part that I start with the less complex smaller objects to small object transfiguration and I'm sure Flitwick dose the same the problem is they are still struggling." Minerva said.

"Right so as I see it you need them more powerful before second year so the best way to do that has got to be to give them more work this year. I know in my class at least reading over that coward's notes that he intended to have first years dodge all year and teach shields and shield mechanics in second year. Leaving for a very rushed their year in dark creatures. What I want to do is mix his first and second year plans together spread out dark creatures and mix it with dark curse identification. They will still get as much information on each but I would say they will be defiantly able to keep up in second and their year for power requirements." Moody said.

"well that certainly sounds positive but do the rest of you think it will be enough to rise their power levels up" Madam Longbottom said thinking of Neville and his small showing of magical talent before Hogwarts.

"Well we could certainly step up the amount of magic we require them to use in each of our classes but it still leaves the component of mental discipline needed in my class for the visualization component of the spells." Minerva said.

"perhaps you could require the mastery of each change preciously accomplished before allowing a passing grade for the year?" professor vector asked.

"That's a bit steep don't you think I don't imagine any but the most dedicated student would master each spell. But I suppose I could have them practice each spell till they can conjure more detail into their transfigurations." Minerva replied.

"Now something Neville has written me about is history apparently he and his friends have to study our history on their own because their professor drones on about goblin rebellions and giant wars in such a dull tone as to literally put some to sleep. That lady's and gentlemen is unacceptable the very fact that he is a ghost and does not talk about anything that happened after his death is a terrible mistake. Now it is too late in the year to replace him with a competent teacher so he will unfortunately have to stay for this one however I will be contacting everyone I know of who is available to teach for next year."

"I had never considered that he was such a detriment to Hogwarts education. He's just been here so long." Professor vector said.

"I have a suggestion if I may" professor babbling spoke up for the first time. Receiving a nod to continue.

"I have noticed that since I have left Hogwarts and professor Dumbledore took over we have stopped the ritual language learning along with other rituals all together. Not only does this mean few if any of the muggleborn ever learn about rituals that aren't harmful but that my subject has suffered greatly. I mean to say the students look at my subject as having to learn two or three completely new languages as well as learning to put them together into spells, and frankly without ritual language learning they aren't far off. Perhaps while you are looking for a replacement for Hubert you could also enquire about visiting professors for the languages." Babbling said.

"Ritual language learning?" Snape asked.

"Ah yes you were a student after the class was cancelled, it is a simple ritual where by the teacher must have an in-depth understanding of the language of the student in this case English. Understand it's not just the language that they speak it's the language that they think in that they must understand, such that we have a few students with Asian and Indian heritage its lightly that we will have to find a professor that knows several languages beyond just what we want teaching. They must also know the desired language obviously the ritual leaders understanding of the language is then transferred to the students via the ritual. The ritual keeps the understanding from hitting the brain to fast such that it takes about two weeks for the first language to sink in and another week for it to be as if they have been speaking it all their life's."

"I know that after the first ritual you can undergo another one every week without risk to health or compromising understanding." professor babbling said.

"I presume this was an optional curricular extra. Perhaps if we are going to hire an entirely new teacher we could charge students wishing to engage in this extra to cover the cost of the new teacher. Especially if you intend for that teacher to also teach other none dangerous rituals. I would imagine it is either that or raise tuition fees altogether." Snape said.

"A valid point professor Snape. Fortunately that should not be an issue you might be surprised to know the school has a surplus fund of quite a sum. As I mentioned earlier Cuthbert Binns will be released from service to the school but as a ghost his salary has been paid directly back into the schools account thus we have around one hundred and fifty years' worth of teachers salary surplus. Now obviously I don't expect it to last forever but it will last for at least twenty to thirty years given the changes we need to make." Madam Longbottom said to a crowd of shocked teachers.

"How did no one realise he was getting paid he has been dead for a long time." Professor Sprout said.

"I honestly don't think the books for the schools finances have been looked at in a long time witch is probably why teacher pay has been the same since before I went here." Madam Longbottom said to suddenly renewed interest.

"I want to let you know that you will soon have to acquire another teacher too. I apologise for this inconvenience but I lost an arm last year and this magical one while excellent has left me much wearier of my chosen career. I know Hagrid is interested in teaching my subject if you wish I can groom him on what is and what is not appropriate for each year to be taught during this year so that he may take over next." Professor Kettleburn said.

"Well thank you for letting us know and thank you for your very generous offer to groom Hagrid for the position I will discuss it with him and if he is agreeable I would appreciate you teaching him." The Headmistress said.

"I have just one minor complaint to bring up about my teaching room if possible I would like to have it moved from the dungeons to a well-lit outer room of the castle. The ventilation in the dungeons are insufficient to keep the fumes at safe levels I would guess the change in room would drastically reduce accidental cauldron damage." Snape said.

"Very well I see no problem with that, we will do so during the holidays, find one you think appropriate before then. Anyone have anything else they want to add?" Longbottom asked.

"No, then I think we are done here I want to see each of you individually at some point this year to discuss students." She finished ending the meeting.

At Christmas Snape had gotten something of a surprise in to form of Fawkes Dumbledore's phoenix flaming into his living quarters at Hogwarts with a large stone plinth he recognised to be Dumbledore's pensive. No sooner than he arrives did Fawkes leave the potions master to find out why Dumbledore had sent him his pensive. Reading the note attached he found himself displeased with Dumbledore once more.

_Dear Severus_

_Mister Potter and his friends have expressed an interest in learning occlumency as I can no longer teach them personally due to my absence from the school I hope that you will teach them in my place, to such an end I have sent Fawkes with my pensive. I am under the impression that even without assistance they will eventually seek out instruction on the subject I would hope that you can adequately guide them away from destroying their minds. I have instructed them to seek you out for tuition when they are ready._

_Merry Christmas _

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore._

It had taken over a month before the Potter boy and his friends had come to see him. In that time there had been another staff meeting this time moody had brought up some very interesting information. The Potter boy could use wandless magic and had been doing so for some time.

"Now that everyone has settled into their new schedule and things are moving on can anyone tell me how the new lesson plan has been received." Augusta said.

"Few of the student's dained to recognise the importance of the room change in mine though I certainly appreciate the change of location." Snape said with his usual distain for the students.

"Yes thank you Severus." Augusta said already used to his world view.

"I am pleased to say many of my students have taken the lesson how we expected and taken it one step further. They have not only been getting down the new transfigurations down faster now that they have to focus on the details of the old ones. But they have begun experimenting with applying different lessons transfigurations on other objects. It's positively the best progress I have seen form any first, second or third year class and something that we don't normally get around to insisting they try till third year." Professor McGonagall positively gushed.

"Well that is certainly a positive affirmation Minerva. Anyone else?" Augusta asked.

"my students have taken to it well but nothing quite as positive as in Minerva's class they are now preforming significantly more spells per class some as many as one hundred but non fewer than fifty. Much better than the previous average of fifty-five to sixty-two, there is a graph in my monthly report." Professor Flitwick said.

"Yes thank you it will make for an interesting read I am sure." Augusta replied. "And you Alastor?" she asked.

"Well I think I have you all beat hands down." He said leaving with a smug grin on his face leaving a gap for them to ask him about it.

"Well go on then we can see you just dying to tell us why don't you?" Severus asked with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

"The Potter boy can use wandless magic." There were gasps and exclamations of shock all around.

"Not only that but he has been doing so for several years now from what I can gather. Further still he has taught your son and that Granger bookworm how too." He said giving a nod to Augusta.

"how with the exception of Dumbledore I don't know a single person capable of wandless magic and then Harry comes along not only having been using it for several years before he even joins Hogwarts but then teaches two others too as well. Is this some sort of joke Alastor?" Augusta asked.

"Not at all, in fact he showed me. I kept him back after the first class in shields because he had enough power to block several jelly legs hexes and a stunner and he told me he could do wandless magic. Now I didn't believe him at first but I got him to show me and oh can he do it. Said he has been trying to do each new spell here too, he can do charms but only ones that don't have a bolt. Can't do any transfiguration though." Alastor said.

"That's probably the compression needed for the bolt spells Alastor you might want to pass it on" Flitwick commented.

"Aye, I said as much. Said I'd teach him to compress his magic for faster bolt spells with a wand in my lessons instead of using a shield charm since he is powerful enough that it would have little to no effect for increasing his reserves." Moody replied.

"That's all well and good Alastor, but here is the crux can if he can teach others do you think he would teach you or one of the other teachers so that we may pass on the secrets of wandless magic, think of what it would do to Hogwarts reputation after Dumbledore's disgraces." Augusta asked.

"I dunno Augusta, I'll ask the lad see what he says, I aint gonna force him like n' I don't think you should ether." Moody said.

"That's all I can ask Alastor. Well unless anyone else has some earth shattering revelations let's call this meeting to a close. I will see you next month." Augusta said.

It had certainly been interesting for Snape to learn of the boy's skill he would certainly need it if he was to defeat his former master. But he would need so much more too he decided he was going to make the boy the best damn occlumense that existed in the hopes it would help.

When the three of them came to him he started with a basic over view of occlumency.

"Right now Albus has lead me to believe you are interested in learning occlumency." He said to nods from the three students.

"Very well then first I am going to give you a detailed over view of what exactly it is I am sure all you have found in the books is elusive and woefully uninformative. What occlumency is and what it can do are two separate things; let's first begin with what it actually is."

"What occlumency is; is a magical replacement for the process your brain goes though while you sleep. Not the dreaming aspect you understand, no this is a replacement for your brains natural process of dealing with conflict and organising the day's information. It is not a simple thing to replace a bodily function much less one of the most important ones the brain has. It is incredibly dangerous and has drawbacks even if you are successful." He said hoping they would decide not to continue, seeing their looks of continued interest he sighed and continued.

"The brain despite its complexity is very inefficient, calling all sorts of surplus information to the for front of your mind for each piece of information you want. normally each piece of information say for example you are making a potion and you need some nightshade, well your brain would pick it up and remember who taught you about nightshade, how pretty it is, everything to do with the colour purple, the sadness of your mother's death and wonder how it tastes with broccoli. Plenty of absolutely useless information with some bits of useful stuff and then there is the chance that it may not even remember anything about it at all."

"By replacing the brains natural organisational system with your own, you guarantee that whatever you want associated with our example is brought up. Continuing our example nightshade would bring up its uses in potions first then its methods of handling, dangers associated with it and how to cultivate it followed by any other surplus information on it you feel necessary. It would also happen with consistency every time." Snape said.

"Now you will notice I mentioned nothing about emotion in that example and that I said nothing of people too. There is a good reason for that my own system for dealing with those separates people and emotion from object and information and this is how I intend to teach you. It will lightly have a significant impact on how you see the world around you, not so much the people but certainly the world." Snape finished lecturing.

"The process of learning occlumency is first to learn to meditate to that effect we will be brewing a potion this evening witch we will use to make incense that witch when burned will help you slip into a meditative trance. Once you can slip into this trance without the aid of the incense we will begin your lessons in earnest." He said already starting to write the ingredients and method on the board the rest of the lesson continuing in much the same way as his potions classes.


	12. Special treatment and Secret research

**Chapter 12 – Special treatment and Secret research.**

It had been a month since professor Snape had given the group their incense and taught them their meditation technique. While Hermione had easily managed the technique both he and Neville had struggled. The three of them had agreed not to go back to Snape for the continuation of the lessons until all three of them had the meditation down.

Neville had been getting closer of late but Harry was still having a lot of problems clearing his mind to begin the trance, he just couldn't get his mind off of the tale of the three brothers. Worse still he had taken to sneaking out of the dorms at night to try and find anything on the entity that they encounter on the bridge or where any of the hallows, as he had discovered they were called, where located. It had seriously impacted his sleep and soon thereafter his concentration in classes.

His obsession with these relics had lead him to believe there was more information in the restricted section of the library. His first attempt at getting a book that had looked promising had yielded a face appearing out of it and screaming at him, presumably to alert staff that someone was in the restricted section. He hadn't returned but he had practically scoured the library's index for any book that might have mentioned death, sorely disappointed with the books from the regular section of the library he was ready to give up until he could get access to the restricted books.

When he realised he had been unable to hold his magic outside of class for anything more than brief periods it was time to hold off. Neville had even commented on it one morning saying that his usually messy hair was even more so and that he had bags under his eyes.

Harrys classes had however been going better than his night time excursions, Moody's especially. The lessons had begun slowly with Moody setting off the rest of the class with the shield charm and a simple tickling hex and pairing them off before setting about teaching Harry.

"Right now Harry what I want you to do is cast the same tickling hex as everyone else at my shield if you please." Moody instructed.

Harry held his magic and preformed "titillare" the spell letting it flow through his wand before it harmlessly impacted Moody's shield.

"Good now the aim of what I want you to do is to hold the fully formed spell in your wand for a time before letting it off, compression will come later for now you have to learn to hold it."

It had taken Harry most of that lesson and the next to get holding the spell down. It was kind of a backwards concept; every other class had been teaching him to let the magic flow. Moody had even said that it normally takes fifth years most of the first half of the year to get it, if they even bother, it wasn't required for exceeds expectations on the O.W.L.s but was for outstanding's.

When Harry had gotten it so fast Moody commented that perhaps without having it being so ingrained that you had to let magic flow he had been able to learn this new technique easier than others, or he could just be really good. He had decided it didn't matter and moved on to teaching him the next stage.

"Ok now despite how quickly you got that stage I suspect you will find this one much harder. It often takes most of sixth and seventh year to preform if at all. The idea is that you hold the magic in your wand and then compress it. The difficulty lies in not putting more power in it or changing the spell to make it utterly useless. Now give it a try." Moody lectured.

Try Harry had but all he had accomplished was for the spell in his wand to make his wand warm before the professor had told him to stop.

"Ok lad that's wrong, what you're doing there is adding more power instead of compressing what power is in there. As soon as you start to feel your wand warm you have to stop, not only is it lightly to destroy your wand but might well take your hand with it. You have to compress the magic in the spell with the magic in the spell not with more magic. You'll know when you've got it because the tip of your wand will glow brighter the more compressed the magic is. Keep trying you'll get it I'm sure." Moody corrected.

So far Harry hadn't had anything resembling a result, his night time excursions had distracted him somewhat around this time. During one of his lessons moody had pulled him to one side to ask about teaching him wandless magic.

"Harry I've spoken to the other teachers about your skills and we are wondering if you can teach one of the teachers so that we could perhaps pass on the skill to others." Moody asked.

"Er sure I can try Hermione and Neville got it down fairly quick. When do you want to do this sir?" Harry said.

"Come see me after lessons today and we can start then if you want, how long do you expect it to take?" moody asked.

"not long sir it only took Hermione and Neville something like ten minutes to be able to feel their magic." Harry said.

"Really that little I would have thought it would take longer." The professor commented.

Later after class Harry had come to meet the professor in his class room and had been surprised to see not just Moody but Flitwick and McGonagall too.

"Hello Harry, Minerva and Filius have also expressed an interest in learning you don't mind do you?" Moody asked.

"No sir that's fine. Ok professors the first thing I asked Hermione and Neville was if they could feel where their magic came from when casting spells, so can you?" Harry asked.

"Beyond the sensation of it traveling though the wand no." Minerva said.

"I can sense the magic around me but I have never noticed my own when casting I assumed it was merely because I was in tune with it." Flitwick said.

"Yes I am much the same as old Filius here." Moody said.

"Huh I didn't even know that it was possible to feel the magic around you." Harry said.

"yes it's something I used in my duelling years it gives you an advantage in knowing what is coming" Flitwick said.

"Right well any way Hermione and Neville where much the same so I asked them to swap wands for a while and try some spells and make sure they concentrated on the source of the magic." Harry said filing away for Flitwick said for later.

"Ah, well that leaves us in a bit of a quandary then Harry." Minerva said.

"Why?" Harry asked confused.

"what you seem not know is that adult wizards can use pretty much any wand, I think it might be in your theory of magic book but the generally accepted theory is that after a while the magic gets so used to traveling the same path that unfamiliar wands provide less resistance as time goes by." Filius said.

"Ah, I see er well the first time I was nearly exhausted I could feel the strain in my magic. That was how I first noticed it we could try that then I guess or both." Harry said.

"Ok but that is lightly to take some time. It can often take several hours of instance spell casting to tire out adult wizards." Minerva said.

"Unfortunately that being the case I am going to have to bow out, I am old enough now that to be sufficiently exhausted as to be able to feel the strain I could very well die. Thank you for your time Mr Potter." Flitwick said before bowing on way out.

"If you are going to need us to exhaust ourselves I suggest we reconvene on a weekend." Moody said.

"Yea ok. Ou why don't you join Hermione Neville and me on Sunday. That's when we normally practice wandless magic." Harry said getting excited with his idea.

"Very well where do you normally meet" Minerva asked.

Harry told them of the class they normally used on a Sunday before leaving to get some homework done before attempting to meditate some more.

Things hadn't been as smooth as all that though Harry's special lessons with Moody had garnered a lot of attention from other students. Not much of it had been positive from the Ravenclaws there had been jealousy about the extra learning. From the Hufflepuffs there was some annoyance that not everyone was getting these extra lessons, though after some talk with older students they learned that they would get there eventually.

The most interesting reactions though where from two small groups of Slytherins the first consisted of Draco Malfoy, his two goons, Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson. The reaction had been for Draco to send an eagle owl to his father and instruct his group to keep closer observations on Potters interactions with the staff, and to find out why he is getting extra lessons.

The second group however was much different in their response to Harry's extra lessons. This group was made up of Daphne Greengrass, Blaze Zabini and Tracy Davis lead by Daphne. Though generally around Slytherin they were thought of as less influential than Draco's group they had already garnered themselves a reputation for taking risky opportunities.

This new situation with Harry was no different instead of taking the wait and see approach they had collectively decided that now was the time to act. However unlike Draco who despite his upbringing and training his father had given was far to direct and blunt Blaze raised by his obscenely cunning mother had suggested a different plan.

"We are agreed that we should join Potters group sooner rather than later and that he is going to be a major player in the wizarding world when he is grown. What we need to do is find a suitable in dose anyone have any suggestions?" Daphne had asked.

"The key to Potter is his friends the trick is not finding an in with Potter but with his friends. Now we know Neville will likely reject any offer of friendship out of suspicion of our motives therefore Granger is the week link." Blaze said.

"Good now who should approach her. I think we are all a little too young for a seduction approach so unless you have other skills in making friends I say we rule blaze out." Daphne said.

"I agree the fact that she already has two male friends would make an approach from a third more difficult what she lacks is female friends. From what I have observed with the exception of Potter and Longbottom she only seems to talk to teachers and occasionally a prefect." Tracy said.

"Ok so what is the key to a friendship with Hermione?" Daphne asked.

"I haven't seen her much outside of the library and class I think the best approach is a serendipitous meeting in the library while looking for a book." Tracy said.

"Yes that will probably work I think it best if I make the first overture if I fail perhaps Tracy can make an attempt." Daphne said.

Harry had finally been able to clear his mind after he had decided that he would follow his only real lead with this hallows thing. Visiting the Gaunt's home over the summer to see if he could find anything or if tom was living there, after all there had been no death announcement in the back issues of the profit he had checked.

Like he had every night since he had gotten his incense from Snape's extra class he had been spending an hour in the early evenings while the dorms where deserted meditating or at least attempting too. His first success had come on the Saturday before the meeting with the professors.

Sat on his bed cross legged and eyes closed without the constant nagging of what to do about the hallows situation he passed over the thoughts of his lessons and what he had learned so far this year. Thinking over transfiguration he could see the improvement he had made over the year though the spell had been the same all year the effort involved had increased gradually as well as the focus needed for the desired result.

His thoughts on charms had been that while none of the spells had been particularly useful almost all of them could be scaled up the feather weight charm could be cast on heavier object and it required more power to do so. Several other spells had been of the same vain spells that either where proof of concepts or stepping stone like spells.

Potions now he actually thought on it were actually one of the more useful set of things he had learned this year. Almost every potion had been some sort of preventative or curative solution for common accidents in the lab or around the house.

When he got to his thoughts on history had been somewhat different. The official history lessons focused almost entirely on goblin rebellions and how close the victories over them had been slim at best. His concern over this was that all of the gold he had seen in his vault was in possession of the goblins; he filed that thought away for further investigation at a later date.

His own history lessons however had been much more fruitful he'd learned about wizarding relics and why there weren't more of them, he'd learned about the founding of the school and of Merlin and Morgana. Even his most recent information had been interesting though he hadn't found a direct correlation between lord of the rings and a wizard he had found instances where the idea could have come from. Though Dracula had a direct relation to a real life vampire he had a different origin story.

Over all he came to the conclusion that there was very little from first year that was immediately useful with the exception of potions. He resolved to find some supplementary reading on something other than history that would be helpful in day to day life outside of school.

It was with that thought that his mind was finally clear nothing weighing it down and he finally slipped into a trance. It was among the most relaxing feelings he had ever experienced, it made his head feel cool and his limbs felt free. He couldn't remember feeling so free if he had ever been swimming with anyone other than the school he might have acquainted it with the sensation of floating on your back in the pool only better. He had stayed like that until Neville came into the room and interrupted him.

"Huh what. Oh it's you Nev hi." Harry said startled from his trance.

"Hey'a Harry I take it you finally manage to get into a trance then?" Neville asked.

"Yea" he said still quite dazed.

"Figured as much when you didn't come down for three hours I figured I'd better come get you before you miss dinner and the quidditch match." Neville said.

"Thanks mate I'll be down in a second let me just put the incense away." Harry said picking himself up off the floor.

The coming quidditch match was fairly crucial though Gryffindor had only played one match so far the Slytherins had utterly dominated their matches so far having a team made up predominantly of sixth and seventh years gave them a massive advantage over the other teams. First in that they were all much bigger and could easily muscle round the smaller players from other teams. But more importantly they were much more experienced and worked together well as they had been playing together for some time now.

Gryffindor having a seventh year seeker new to the team and a second year chaser new as well were not expected to do well. It was hoped by the other teams the Gryffindor would lose and lose fast ensuring Slytherins point lead would be small enough that the ravens or the badgers could catch up in their remaining games before the end of the year.

When the match came it wasn't as exciting to watch as the last one Slytherin was dominating over Gryffindor. Oh the keeper wood was doing his best and doing a fairly good job at it saving almost two thirds of the goal attempts the problem lay with the chasers. Though each was skilled on a broom given their lack of being hit by the blugers they just didn't gel together, it was something Harry assumed would come with time.

The beaters Fred and George were doing an excellent job he thought, keeping one of the balls ready to distract those making an attempt on goal. The other was more regularly in their possession than the opposition but it wasn't enough to make up for the Slytherins greater size and teamwork as they just had a non-ball holding chaser guarding the quaffle carrier at all times.

Forty minutes in and Harry was starting to wonder what the seekers where even doing. He had spotted the snitch ten minutes ago while watching the chasers fumble the quaffle and beyond a few circle eights it had done almost nothing.

"Nev why are the seekers doing nothing?" Harry asked.

"What are you talking about Harry they're looking for the snitch it's not exactly easy to find" Neville said.

"Come on its right there it's hardly moved in the last ten minutes" Harry said pointing to the Slytherin half just under one of the beaters, getting a look of incredulity from Neville.

"You sure you need those glasses?" Hermione asked seeing the small spec of gold Harry had pointed at.

"Yea I'm practically blind without them" Harry replied.

"You're pretty good at flying right?" Neville asked.

"Yea not bad" Harry said.

"You should totally try out for seeker next year Stevenson is leaving this year" Neville suggested given Harry's prowess at spotting the snitch.

"Might do if it takes them this long to spot the snitch" Harry said after giving it some thought.

It was another twenty minutes before one of the seekers saw the snitch and that was only because the snitch seemed to want to taunt him by flying in front of his face and flying off when he moved to catch it. Harry had begun to think the snitch had something of a sense of humour when it flew though the ring made between a chasers arm and the broom causing the Slytherin seeker to crash into his team mate.

It was eventually caught by the Gryffindor seeker and with two Slytherins out of commission Gryffindor had evened up the score some leaving the final score at three hundred and seventy to Slytherin and three hundred and ten to Gryffindor. With quidditch over the rest of the day fade away in a slow wind with the lions loosing there was no after party in the dorms just people quietly getting on with work.

The next day Harry and his friends met with the teachers in their little makeshift classroom Harry got his parchment and quill out and set it off doing his homework for moody now that he had finished reading the material. This drew looks from the teachers while Hermione and Neville began practicing their own phantom writing not quite able to let the quills just go off and do it themselves.

"That's quite impressive do you mind telling me how you are doing that?" McGonagall asked.

"Huh?" Harry said turning to see what she was looking at. "Oh that it just seemed a natural progression from moving objects around to setting them off on tasks. You know like having the dish cloth wash the dishes then move on to the next one." Harry continued.

"You're telling me that it's just an animation charm? And yet it appears to be doing the homework I assigned you?" moody asked astounded at the use the boy seemed to have found in such a simple piece of magic.

"I dunno if it's an animation charm or not they aren't covered in the books I've read yet. It was just the next thing I tried after summoning objects to me was to make them move about as I wanted them and then to move about without me having to monitor them so I could do other things while they were busy." Harry answered Moody.

"How does the quill know what to write you're not dictating to it or anything?" Moody asked jabbing the quill with his wand to examine it.

"Er that's a bit more complex I had to learn to write with it first that's what Hermione and Neville are doing now. Then it was just a matter of thinking of the requirements of the work I wanted doing and the rules to that work. I mean I started with maths first because it has the most clearly set out rules the pen I was using at the time would do the work for my using my understanding of the rules, so it's not like I'm cheating or ne thing." Harry said.

"Anyway we are here for you to exhaust yourselves so we can see if you can get a real feel for your magic. So if you begin I'm going to see if I can get any closer on that compression stuff we worked on in class." Harry instructed.

Professor McGonagall set about conjuring large animals such as elephants and then vanishing them. Large scale transfiguration such as this is normally quite draining but Minerva being a transfiguration mistress going on 40 years now had plenty of experience with it and as such is one of the more powerful witches in the country. Especially considering that instead of say for example going into a less magic intense career such as a posting at the ministry or a builder where contracts were few and far between, she had gone into teaching where she had had to use magic very nearly every day of the year.

Professor Moody however had gone for a different approach; he decided to go with his speciality, Charms and curses. Though much less draining than transfiguration it did have some spells that allowed for continuous use. He was using a combination of an area of effect charm to lower the temperature and a fire curse both among the higher powered of the disciplines.

It was an hour into this that Neville had been distracted watching all the different animals that professor McGonagall was conjuring that she started to entertain him with her skills. At first it was just small things like having a sheep with tartan wool eventually moving on to scenes from wizarding literature such as the tales of the bard.

Moody's area of the class room had started to drastically change too. With the elemental spells he was using the ground around the edge had iced over from the cooling spell the area. The area in-between had begun to crack and flake from the effects of the two different temperatures meeting each other. But the area underneath the fiery inferno had begun to melt into molten rock.

It wasn't much later that both teachers starting with professor moody were beginning to get tired. "That's as much as I can do Harry, huff, I'm exhausted. I can't feel what you were talking about at all; it's just an overwhelming sense of exhaustion." Moody said bent double taking deep breaths.

"Hrmmm" Harry voiced thinking to himself. "how about you try a spell using my wand now see if you can feel the resistance now you don't have plenty of magic left over." He suggested handing his wand off to the professor.

When the professor tried it was with a disappointed smile on his face, though he had managed to perform the simple lighting spell he couldn't feel the resistance the foreign wand provided. Moody had over the years used many wands of both enemy and friend a like and had not felt the resistance usually accompanied by another's wand for some time, he had been hoping this would one day help him in combat but it seems to have hamstrung him in learning wandless magic, at least by Harry's method.

"nah I can't feel it boy just the general exhaustion I feel, I've used alota' spare wands over the years though maybe that's making this harder to pick up." Moody huffed out offering an explanation to the group at large for his failure.

"I don't know then sir, it wasn't that hard for Hermione and Neville to pick it up n' I got it by accident in the playground one day." Harry said feeling guilty that he couldn't help Moody get in touch with his magic.

It was another thirty minutes later that McGonagall was exhausted she had stopped putting on a show for the group not long after Moody has failed to accomplish the task and had just focused on using her magic in as large a quantity as possible. Many of the conjurations were much larger yet much plainer than before.

"Right, huff, I'm ready to try, huff. Give me your wand Alastor." She said gathering her breath with each pause and stretching out her hand for his wand. Moody didn't give her his primary wand he took one from his boot that the group hadn't noticed before.

"Here take me spare I want it back mind." Moody said reluctantly giving her his spare, not that he didn't have another hidden, but they didn't need to know that.

She performed a quick conjuration with it, but as with Moody she too failed to feel the sensation the children had spoken of.

"I too seem to be unable to feel the necessary resistance even with this unfamiliar wand thank you for trying to assist us Mr Potter, 30 points to Gryffindor. Now I'm just going to rest for a while over here." McGonagall said picking up one of the disused chairs and sitting against the wall.

Awhile later Harry had almost given up trying to compress his magic in his wand for the day and had engaged Neville in conversation while Hermione was doing her unfinished homework.

"Hey Nev I never really thought about it before but what do wizards and witches do for fun, I mean I've seen no TVs or stereos while I've been in the wizarding world. Not that I've been many places in it."

"TVs or stereos? Dunno what they are mate." Neville answered much to the surprise of Harry and the surreptitiously listening Hermione.

"What do you mean you don't know what they are?" Hermione almost shouted, quite shocked at the volume of her own voice.

"I dunno what they are?" Neville repeated as if it was obvious.

Hermione huffed before explaining to him what a TV was, in that it was like a device for showing moving pictures and sound over great distances sometimes involving dramas or sporting events.

"oh we ain't got anything like that I mean sometimes at big quidditch games they have a big screen so people can see the action but nothing in our homes. Most of the entertainment we have is things like quidditch and duelling tournaments, there's other stuff too like chamber music, story books and wizarding chess. I know some of the more well off family take holidays during the summer to places like Egypt." Neville said finally answering Harry's question.

"So if there is no TV in the wizarding world and by the sounds of it very little entertainment what jobs actually pay well then? And what do they spend it on with so little entertainment to waste money on?" Harry asked thinking of how most famous people were rich in the muggle world.

"Errr I dunno Harry sorry" Neville said.

"Perhaps I can help Mr Potter" McGonagall interjected.

"By all means professor?" Harry said.

"Let's start with careers; it's never too early to start thinking about what you want to do later in life. There are quite a few high paying jobs in the wizarding world, among the most lucrative are; curse braking, dragon handling, quidditch player, dualist and enchanter. I'll give you a little overview of the kind of things each of these professions do."

"A curse breaker is can be expected to preform anything from removing dark curses from or destroying cursed mundane items. To tomb raiding warded magical tombs of lost knowledge. The reason for it being a lucrative carrier is that it is very dangerous and lost tombs are usually lost for a reason, quite often the people who hid them don't appreciate them being found." She lectured with a serious look on her face.

"Wait so being a curse breaker is like being paid to be Indiana Jones?" Harry asked excitedly forgetting the wizarding world's lack of TVs for a moment.

"I'm not familiar with him." McGonagall replied.

"Never mind it's not important, go on." Harry said slightly embarrassed.

"Very well, now a dragon handler is as you might expect. It involves looking after dragons keeping them content, ensuring they reproduce and finally extracting usable materials from them both while alive and after they are dead." McGonagall said.

"So it's like farming for dragons then?" Harry asked.

"Very much so, excepting that it is very dangerous again that is the main reason for dragon related products being very expensive." She answered.

"A quidditch carrier is not something I would recommend you rely upon not only is it only the very best of players those get positions with league teams, it is a very short lived profession sixteen to twenty years tops. The high pay is lightly not enough to sustain you though later life and usually results in the need for a second carrier." McGonagall said to a nod from Hermione as she clearly though the sport was nonsense to begin with.

"Duelling is much like you would expect there are tournaments with spectators and cash prizes. Unlike quidditch were each player would expect to be paid win or lose a dualist only gets paid if they win or place in a tournament. Also unlike quidditch dualists often get better with time so if you're really good and keep studying and practicing you can be a champion for quite some time, I know professor Flitwick won a tournament a few years ago and he is nearly into his third century." McGonagall explained much to the shock of the trio.

"Wow, was he always that short?" Harry asked unable to contain the question.

"No Mr Potter he was not" McGonagall said in a firm displeased tone.

"sorry" Harry apologised realising he had probably been quite rude with that question judging by the looks he was getting from just about everyone in the room bar Moody who from what he could tell thought it was funny.

"Now as I was saying there is also enchanting. Enchanting is a varied carrier it can range from making brooms on mass to making specialised devices such as the big screens Mr Longbottom mentioned. The pay for the work also varies too, a broom being an enchantment the company provides and you are doing just the application is a lower paying job in line with most ministry clerical work but the screens or other commissioned work would usually bring in seven to ten times that." McGonagall said, Hermione was now clearly paying rapped attention and taking copious notes too.

"When it comes to grades and subjects you need for these you will find that while quidditch requires you to be nothing more than very good at the sport and duelling technically doesn't require any grades in practice a good grounding in charms and transfiguration will serve in just about any profession. Dragon tending will need at least an O in N.E.W.T. care of magical creatures and some grounding in ancient runes, both of which are electives you can choose starting in your third year. Ancient runes are essential for enchanting and curse braking, you'll need at least an O in it for both charms again for both, transfiguration is less important in them but still useful, defence against the dark arts for curse braking. As you can see they are very demanding carrier paths but highly rewarding." she continued.

"What about potions and herbology?" Hermione asked.

"Both have their uses but herbology isn't particularly lucrative unless you have a large amount of funds for an initial investment in a greenhouse, rare and exotic plants some of which can cost thousands of galleons each. This has a knock on effect with potions not only do some of the ingredients cost a massive amount there are very few profitable potions for it most mundane potions for healing and such aren't all that expensive." McGonagall answered.

"Huh thanks professor" Hermione said.

With the little carriers discussion and teaching session over the group wound down finishing off their homework while the professors finished their own paper work.

Later that night Harry frustrated with his lack of success with compressing his magic even with a wand was reading through his charms book, working through each of the spells. Most of them were just simple things like they had learned in the actual class but he had noticed despite being two thirds through the year they had covered less than a quarter of the book in lessons. He had come across a fair few potentially interesting spells too, the most interesting one to him was a seemingly simple ownership spell cast at an object it would tell you who owned it. He went about casting it on several of his own things and some that weren't

"Quidnam" Harry whispered pointing his wand at different objects in turn. The results were more detailed than he expected. For instance his four poster was listed as being part of Hogwarts property currently in use by him and all belonging to the British ministry of magic. Were as his charms book was listed as being owned by him but also being part of a set of books of witch he didn't own. The Invisibility Cloak though was very interesting the results of witch read.

_The Cloak of Invisibility – currently in possession of Harry James Potter – owner unknown._

That was something that intrigued Harry why had the spell distinguished between in possession of and owning weren't they the same and if not why wasn't he the owner surely he had inherited it. He tried several other objects too, getting varied results in return finding his wand was in his possession and owned by him, but that Archimedes was in his possession but owned himself. Did that mean the cloak was alive, he didn't know, seeing no resolution to the question he put it aside for another day or to be forgotten altogether it was getting late after all?

A.N. I would like to point out that Katie was fresh on the team in Harrys first year it is a bit much to expect her teamwork with the other three to be as good as it was in her first game especially since from the first time Harry gets recruited we here nothing of any training beyond him being told about the rules of the game by wood

Titillare – Latin for tickle apparently

Quidnam – Latin for whom


	13. Time Marches Onward

**Chapter 13 – Time Marches Onward.**

It was getting closer to the end of the year now and though Harry and his friends had continued with school, their extracurricular learning had slowed with no extra history research and the occlumency meditation being complete. That wasn't all that was happening after all though we like to think it the world rarely revolves around us, and even when it dose other people still exist.

Arthur Weasley for example had a very busy couple of months recently dealing with charmed muggle objects ending up back in muggle hands. He was getting very fed up of being called out different locations all over the country to fix relatively minor problems, enchanted glass windows somehow making their way onto a cottage window was the last straw. He decided it was time to do something about it.

As it stood while it wasn't illegal it was frowned upon to enchant muggle objects for a malicious purpose, in fact there was next to no real regulation of charming objects or where they might be heading. What he decided was needed was a new law, something to protect the muggles from wizards carelessness or viciousness. It was with that in mind that he started to draft his law.

He decided the main problem was the items themselves if the items were never created in the first place they would never be able to end up in muggle hands. He was going to need support for this though as much as he knew the in's and outs of the ministry's workings it wasn't enough to get his law passed, he was going to need support from the wizengamot. The only contact he had on that prestigious council was Dumbledore so he penned a letter to him.

Elsewhere people were gearing up and putting plans into motion for instance in the island fortress of Azkaban two men meet either side of a set of bars. The first is a graceful gentleman with smooth well-kept hair and a long smooth black cane. The other was a raggedy man who hadn't had an opportunity to groom himself in just over a decade, if it wasn't for the charms preventing the smell and other physical matter from exiting the cell the first man would have near passed out from it.

"Sirius." The man from outside the cell said.

The man in the cell looked up for the first time since the other came.

"What do you want?" Sirius grunted.

"I just want to help my family, is that so hard to believe?" the man said.

"From you, yes Lucius Malfoy doesn't lower himself to helping convicts for free. So I ask again, what do you want?" Sirius replied.

"That's the thing though isn't it, you're not actually a convict now are you, and after all you have to have a trail to be a convict. Technically speaking your being held for questioning still, something I assure you is extremely illegal." Lucius said evident from his tone of voice he was enjoying the position of power over his cousin in law.

"Perhaps I should have asked what you stand to gain from my freedom then rather than what you want." Sirius said eyes full of suspicion and hate.

"Now, now dear cousin no need to be like that. It is hardly only me that stands to gain from your release. I'll be frank with you, devious though your mind may be when it comes to childish pranks politics, family or otherwise was never your strong suit." Lucius began, Sirius's glare becoming fiercer as he continued.

"Things in the ministry aren't right; it's corrupt, all the way to the top. Not only that but its ineffective, even at being corrupt. Think about it for a moment who best would an effective corrupt government serve..." Lucius paused here.

"The purebloods" Sirius answered for him as he knew he was expected to.

"Exactly now working as it should without corruption what should have happened when you were arrested all be it at the scene of the crime?" Lucius asked as though speaking to a particularly slow child.

"I should have been questioned then had a trail" Sirius growled out answering his in-law hoping to get this meeting over with.

"exactly, now what should have happened if the ministry was corrupt and working with a pureblood agenda, especially considering that you are one of the last of a long line of noble purebloods?" he asked again

"I should have been questioned then had a trail and released." Sirius answered again.

"right, now given that something is clearly wrong you being put in Azkaban without a trail must have served someone's purposes and whoever it was has scaled back aurors and increased inefficiency in ministry procedures so much that it took me two whole months to get an appointment to see you." Lucius said.

"I still don't see what this has to do with me or how getting me out helps with any of that." Sirius said.

"I need your help, your support; your hereditary seat on the wizengamot for example would be incredibly helpful." He answered.

"Ah it comes to the heart of the matter at last, well I can tell you now you're not getting it so you might as well just leave." Sirius replied hate clear in his voice.

"No, no, no, dear cousin you misunderstand, I don't want your seat merely its support. You see I want to run for minister in the next elections. To do that I need support and publicity, you are both. 'Lucius Malfoy: champion of the unjustly imprisoned', what do you think about that for a headline in the profit." Lucius asked clearly enjoying his in-laws face and reactions.

"Your just loving this aren't you. Fine I'll help you just get me out of here." Sirius said hating every moment of it, even though it would lightly mean his freedom.

"I knew you would see it my way eventually just to be sure though I need to know, I won't move forward on this if you're guilty, so tell me, did you betray the potters and kill Pettigrew and those muggles?" Lucius asked with all seriousness the situation demanded for the first time since he entered the prison.

"Of course I fucking didn't that bastard Pettigrew was the Potters secret keeper that's why tracked him down when I found out what happened, and as much as I would love to claim to have killed the traitorous little shit he blew up the street and escaped." Sirius practically shouted at his soon to be saviour.

"Really, now that is interesting" Lucius said with genuine surprise for the first time in the conversation.

"I'm a lot of things Lucius but I am no traitor, get me out of here and I'll hold up my end of the bargain." Sirius said anger still in his voice.

"Very well, in light of what you say do you mind if I push for a veritas serum questioning at least a limited one, one drop three pre-approved questions?" Lucius asked thinking of how best to phrase the questions so his own deal would not come to light.

"I'll answer whatever questions you need as long as it gets me out of this hell hole." Sirius said getting quite short with Lucius, having your freedom dangled in-front of you by someone you hate can have that effect on a person.

"so be it, I'll arrange a trail as soon as I can it may take a few months as I say things are so unbelievably inefficient right now it's hard to believe anything gets done in that building." Lucius said before leaving his cousin to his dementor induced misery.

Harry, Hermione and Neville also had an interesting time only theirs took the form of lessons with Snape. Apparently what they had been learning before while necessary for occlumency wasn't actually the process it's self.

"Now that you have all managed to achieve the necessary ability to enter the required meditative state we can move on to a more detailed overview of what occlumency actually is in terms of what you do rather than its function." Professor Snape started.

"What I thought it was just this meditation that you've been having us learn, you mean there is more to it than that. It was hard enough learning to meditate as it was." Harry complained.

"Yes mister Potter of course there is more to it than simple meditation. That meditation may well come in handy for you in the future it is the first step in many different magical procedures, almost all body enhancement rituals or spells require it, the animagus transformation included Not only that but it is very useful for sensing foreign magic, things like wards and cursed objects are much easier to identify while in that state. I'm sure between the three of you that you can find its uses beyond occlumency so I won't waste my time explaining it to you."

"sorry professor" Harry said both pleased at the information and sufficiently chastised as to feel a little embarrassed he had allowed his mouth to say things before he could stop it.

"Now we can move on to the actual art of occlumency, assuming Mister Potter has no more inane questions thoughts he would like to share with us. Occlumency is as I have said before the defence of your mind from the outside. Now it is obviously not as simple as that if it were there would be many more practitioners." Snape said.

Hermione desperately wanted to ask how it was done then it was clear from the way she was practically bouncing on her seat that she was restraining herself from asking.

"To do this we must first know what we are defending and therein lays the problem. If you…" Snape said before being interrupted.

"How come?" Harry said again instantly regretting it as soon as he had said it "sorry, go on" he apologised at Snape's glare.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted. If you do not take control of your mind you cannot defend it. Think if you will of a castle and its town, now when the castle is besieged the towns people flee to the castle for protection because the town its self cannot be defended easily. However this means that the town will be raided for supplies and valuables. Though the castle may or may not be taken the attackers have gained valuable goods from the raid. This is the way the mind normally works with the towns people being your conciseness, the supplies being memories and the castle being your subconscious mind." Professor Snape explained to them, Harry still not understanding how it helped to know your mind.

"Now obviously that is only an analogy but it isn't too far from the truth as to confuse you. What we are going to do is first reorder your minds so that they can easily be defended without giving information to an attacker. Yes miss granger." The professor said seeing her hand up.

"But I thought the brain organised its self though sleep while your dreaming wont it just disorganise it's self every night and mean we have to sort it out every morning." Hermione said remembering something learned maybe from television maybe from one of her books she couldn't quite remember.

"Yes Miss Granger well done, you have hit upon the main point of today's lesson. The mind does indeed organise itself while you sleep, unfortunately it does a poor job of it many things are referenced and linked to other completely unrelated items. What we are going to do this lesson is I am going to show you how to strip memories of information and how to catalogue it. I will then guide each of you though the process once. The idea being that you will do this with every memory you have over the next couple of years." Professor Snape said.

"But sir surely it's a waste of time if we have to do it for all our memories it would take forever" Neville said instantly realising he had said the wrong thing.

"Of course it isn't Mister Longbottom do you think I would waste my time on something if it took too much time to be useful. Since clearly none of you have noticed, time, while in a meditative state is extremely subjective. Hours, weeks and even months can pass by in just a few minutes, much like how dreaming can seem to take days when in fact it's only a few minutes of your sleep cycle. One moment Miss Granger." Snape said seeing Hermione had another question her hand being raised.

"Sleep is again something we come to, for a wizard or witch practicing this method of meditation it can replace sleep. You need not spend the entire night ordering your thoughts for the day but you must spend several hours meditating so that your body and mind rest and regenerate." Snape said at this Hermione's hand went down.

"now you may notice we still have not ventured into the realms of actually defending your mind the reason for this is each mind being different you will each lightly choose a different representation of your inner mind and thus each defence must be bespoke to the situation as opposed to a generalised cover all." Snape finished

"Now let us begin tonight's lesson in earnest, you will notice I have prepared a vile in front of each of you and the stone basin in the centre of the class, the basin is called a pensive. I want each of you to enter your meditative states put your wand gently to your temple and as soon as a memory serf ices gently pull your wand from your temple and deposit the silvery residue in your vile, like so." He said before demonstrating on himself.

Harry's memory was one of embarrassment, it was of the time his aunt had shaved his head, he had begged and pleaded with her not to but in the end she did, he spent the rest of the evening in the garden working and crying. If he hadn't of already put the memory in the vile before he realised witch one it was he would have made to drop it or try another memory. It probably had something to do with being recently embarrassed in front of his now best friends and remembering the last time he was as embarrassed.

Neville's for his part wasn't much better it, if anything it was worse. It was when he was nine his uncle had taken him to the attic to show him a surprise he had for him, unfortunately it wasn't a happy surprise he in fact had just wanted to get Neville high enough that the fall might kill him, as it wasn't long after they reached the attic that Neville was promptly shoved out the already open window. It had only been his magic that had saved him something Neville was sure his uncle had expected not to happen.

Hermione's was much less traumatic, having had the most time with her meditation she managed to direct the memory a little and had pulled out the memory of the groups journey to Hogwarts for the first time.

"very well now if Misters Potter and Longbottom wouldn't mind waiting outside I will assist Miss Granger first, take your memories with you." Professor Snape said seeing the boys about to leave them there.

It wasn't much longer maybe ten minutes before Hermione came out and directed Neville into the class.

"So what's it all about then, any tips?" Harry asked.

"I'd better not; it wouldn't make much sense without the pensive to help demonstrate." Hermione replied to Harry's dismay.

'Sigh' "fine" Harry said.

Neville's instruction was significantly quicker than Hermione's, after leaving the class he directed Harry in.

Once in the classroom Snape directed Harry to sit directly in front of the stone basin and indicated with his wand for Harry to pour the memory in, he hesitated as he did so. Snape then extended his hand for Harry to take, having done so Snape then prodded the silvery liquid of Harry's memory with his wand.

The change was instant and disorienting, jarring in its extreme difference. One moment Harry was sitting next to the pensive with Snape towering over him the next he was in the Dursley's kitchen with a younger version of himself getting his hair cut.

It wasn't a pleasant memory and though he was watching it from a third person prospective he was assaulted with the thoughts and emotions of his younger self. He was only about seven in the memory and one of the main emotions he was getting from this memory was shame.

Shame that he was going to have to go to school tomorrow with a bald head. Shame that he hadn't managed to sort his hair out despite his aunt's warnings that she would do just this if his hair remained the messy nest it always seemed to be. He had tried of course but it didn't matter how much he combed his hair it made no difference, even wetting it first as soon as it dried it just sprang back up. Gel was no better either it just left him looking like he had dandruff or nits, because of this he had been sent home from school when he had tried using his uncle's hair gel.

"please aunty I tried but it just won't stay down, I can't get it to go flat or look neat please don't shave it off." Memory Harry begged crying as he did so.

"Look it's no use crying, I warned you about this and I could hardly be considered a responsible guardian if I didn't follow through on my threats, young children need limits. Besides it's not as if plenty of people don't have shaved heads, it's not like I'm going to shave it all off just close enough that it won't be able to stick up and look a mess. Now sit still so I don't catch your ear." Aunt Petunia said with an imperious tone of voice as if she was telling herself she was right to do this as well as Harry.

Harry was abruptly pulled from reliving one of the horrors of his child hood by professor Snape speaking to him.

"Mr Potter, you will notice in this memory of yours we can feel the emotions of your younger self, the panic, the fear and the shame, we can also hear his thoughts. The first step in the process is to draw each of the emotions of the memory into yourself one at a time, draw it in feel it, feel every thought connected to that emotion, why it was felt in the first place. Once you have done that you need to find a place for it in your mind. Let's start with the fear it is always a good place to start being so prevalent in almost every aspect of life."

Harry stopped and entered the meditative state he had been taught, but instead of the tranquillity that normally accompanied it Harry was now assaulted by the emotions of the memory around him. Harry hadn't realised but the memory had stopped playing or was playing so slowly as to not make any difference.

Focusing on the fear in the memory Harry could feel it but he could also hear every thought associated with that fear, not only that fear but the emotion of fear in general. The fear of ripper the dog, the fear of Dudley's gang, the fear of being kidnapped, the fear of dying alone, so much information assaulted him with the emotion of fear it took him what felt to him like a near eternity to narrow down the thoughts to just those pertaining to the fear of the reaction of the other school kids the next day.

Snape who had been watching Harry during this noticed immediately once Harry had started pulling in the fear, his face had changed from the calm mask of meditation to one of sensory overload, something of a wince accompanied it too. From Snape's prospective it too less than two minutes for Harry to get control of his thoughts on the emotion and return to the tranquillity of the meditative state.

"Good Mr Potter, now you must file that away in your mind and start building a catalogue of such things. Unfortunately this is something everyone studying the art must do by themselves, every mind being different and everyone's subconscious emotions being felt completely different." Professor Snape said.

"but sir surely that would take ages we must have been in here at least an hour, maybe more, it took me ages to narrow the fear down to just the relative thoughts from this memory." Harry said thinking how long it would take to do for every memory and every emotion.

"Remember what I said about time being relative Potter, you were in that meditative state for less than two minutes. Not only that but now that you have filed away that fear it will never again showed up when you are exposed to fear. A true master occlumense can call upon any feeling they have experienced, now while that doesn't sound useful now many advanced magic's require certain emotions to work." Professor Snape explained.

"wow, it felt like so much longer I could have sworn it was easily an hour." Harry said.

"Now while that is how you do emotions you can also catalogue thoughts in the same way. The next bit is what will help with your memory. Now as you can see from your memory your mind did in fact take in all of the detail of the world around you, the problem is when it comes to needing that information unless it was emotionally significant such as the hair cut in this science you won't consciously be able to remember it." Snape said to Harry's continued shame.

"After you have finished stripping a memory of the emotions within you should then begin by taking note of each of the objects in the memory. In this case for example let us take the kitchen table, I want you to walk up to it and touch it try to remember everything about it, every event it was involved in, every meal you ate off it." Snape instructed.

Harry reached out slowly and touched the table right hand extended. When he did so he was, at first slowly then more rapidly as he got used to it, bombarded by memories of the table of him placing meals on it, cleaning it, that time he had banged his foot on the leg. This time it felt much longer than his pulling in of the fear emotion, it was like experiencing every memory of that table as though it had just happened only in fast forward. This time though he wasn't worried about keeping professor Snape waiting so he took his time viewing every memory.

When he was finished he could have told you every meal he had eaten off that table and in what order, it was a strange sensation to know an object so completely even the little stains and cracks in it he had never consciously though of before. He was pulled from his thoughts of the table by Snape's voice once more.

"Now you must find a way of prioritising how important that information is to you. What you just experienced is what normally happens when people describe their life flashing before their eyes in near death situations. The idea being that the brain might pick out some useful information to help you survive, as such that table is currently the most important thing in your life, you must push it back while still holding on to the information. I cannot stress how vital this part of the process is so take your time and do it right. Done wrong you could very well end up a hermit living in a swamp protecting your mud like it was a precious metal, understand" Professor Snape said making sure to have Harry's attention while stressing the important point.

The experience of making the table less important to himself was a strange one for Harry, never before had he actually thought on how much impact an inanimate object would have on his life. How often does anyone really think about how important a particular piece of furniture is to themselves, Harry certainly thought it less important than the vast majority of things in his life? It wasn't the least important as he had been on occasion punished for not cleaning it properly, certainly not something he wanted to repeat, but now with Hogwarts and his aura of ignore me it was much less important.

When he had finished deciding on the importance of tables in the grand scheme of things he looked up to find Snape waiting for him.

"now that you have an understanding of what your supposed to I want you to try and mix the meditation with sleep, so get a few hours of meditation and then a few hours of sleep until you feel you can go all night meditating, I would suggest for the first few times you set an alarm or ask someone to remind you to sleep, as you noticed time is hard to keep track of at first." Professor Snape said receiving a nod from Harry.

"one last thing, once you feel you have caught up and no more memories come to you when you meditate I want you to come see me, even if that's two years from now." Snape said.

"Er ok thanks professor." Harry said as he left the room.

He was shocked to find Hermione and Neville outside the classroom waiting for him; he had almost forgotten they were there or that they had even come in the classroom with him at the start of the lesson.

Elsewhere in the lake district of the UK a wisp of black smoke coalesced into a sentient mass. The spirit that was once called Voldemort by his legion of followers was struggling to survive. It had been feeding off of the life force of small mammals and using birds for transport before their bodies could no longer support his fractured soul. He was trying to get to Dover to make a crossing of the channel, having discovered the stone had been removed the night of his failed attempt to capture it.

Quirrell's body had been breaking down and without access to either the stone of the possibility of using the unicorn blood of the Hogwarts heard, it was better to fake its suicide than to reveal his presence. His problem had been a lack of resources, who could he trust in this diminished form, those he could were in Azkaban for having stood by him and those free had claimed bewitchment or denounced him altogether.

No he decided he could not trust any of his death eaters with his quest for re-embodiment. He did however need help and so far his options for how to go about it were dwindling. He could no longer hope to get at the stone it had taken far too long to move the plan to have Dumbledore look after it to be put into action and another attempt would take far too long especially with Dumbledore now on the bad side of the wizarding public. Other options available to him each had drawbacks with the stone he had been hoping to restore himself to his own human body, without it almost all the magic he had found for re-embodiment left the subject with a very much less than human appearance.

It would be fairly simple to create him a phylactery and become a lich if he hadn't already rendered that option unavailable in his quest for immortality, without his sole intact and whole it would be insufficient to fill a phylactery in order to move the lich body. 'But then what is the point in discarding your own working body for a corpse when there are other more elegant methods of immortality' was what he had thought when he had read about it.

Any kind of possession would leave him vulnerable to easy disembodiment again it would take so little effort to have him exercised it, with a powerful enough wizard it wouldn't even require them to be in his presence. No he needed something more permanent and wholly his own.

'perhaps an homunculus body would suffice, having no previous owner it would rule exorcism out as well as be much more pliable to transformation magic. Yes now how to get the required materials' with that he abandoned his plan for heading to the continent he was going to get a body and then those traitors would be the first to pay.

Albus Dumbledore's last few weeks had indeed been busy even when running Hogwarts he couldn't remember a time he had spent doing more paper work, well at least this was more enjoyable than filling out expense forms for the school, he had been answering correspondences almost non-stop since he had been fired.

First he had had letters from angry parents and other readers of the wizarding newspaper, for the most part he ignored them beyond acknowledging to himself that it was perhaps a hasty decision to store the stone in the school and that it had been many years since he was a child and he little remembered what it was like. There had been others though his correspondences with Harry had helped see him those first few months.

But that hadn't been all there had been important correspondences too Arthur Weasley had recently asked for his opinion on his idea for a new misuse of muggle artefacts bill that he was planning on putting forward. In truth he hadn't had much input into it with Arthur already having somehow gotten a wizengamot meeting for it next week, though he did think it was perhaps a good idea to help cut down on the muggle baiting sprees of late.

He had also had letters from both Harry and his teachers on a subject that had given him quite the shock apparently Harry was very adept with wandless magic, but not only that he had managed to teach two other students the skill. He had tried teaching some of the professors, unfortunately with little results, hence the letters he had received. They had each in a different manner asked about wandless magic.

Harry's had asked what was so different about how he had tried to teach his professors compared to how Dumbledore had performed his wandless magic. while his professors had asked his if he could pass on some advice for helping Harry advance his skills in the area, after all so few wizards were ever really capable of it.

This presented Dumbledore with something of a problem, well not Harry's question he could easily answer that but from what his professors described Harry was already just as adept as him or near enough that once he learned some more advanced spells. Despite what the wizarding populous at large believed his skill with wandless magic was limited, especial in a dual.

The problem with his method of wandless magic is that it was not about using his own magic but rather directing the magic of the world around you into large scale spells and a few smaller things such as perceived telekinetics. However the problem with it is that when duelling another wizard who is also capable of utilising the magic around them it becomes essentially useless, that's not to say it has not use.

Before wizards and muggles split it wasn't uncommon for a wizard to cast large scale area of effect spells on a battlefield. Anything from earthquakes to raining down fire from the sky therein lies the problem, how useful was it to rain fire down on someone standing less than twenty feet from you, doubtless you would be caught in the spell to. With that in mind he started to quill a letter to Harry.

_Dear Harry _

_ I have received your letter and letters from your professor's regarding your attempts to teach them wandless magic and although your teachers may have indicated I'm capable of it this is not the case. The "wandless magic" I am capable of is not the same as what you have attempted to teach your professors and have managed to teach your friends, what I do is referred to as sorcery. Do you remember how in an early letter to you I explained that being a sorcerer simply meant I was capable of leaving a mark on the environment with magic? While this is true it isn't the whole truth sorcery is the manipulation of the natural magic around you is to effect spells._

_ To the best of my extensive knowledge what you are doing is for lack of a better phrase intentional accidental magic. it's rare and something I've only ever seen muggleborns do and even then once they get their wands they tend to stop for one reason or another, its usually in cases where there is either no adult supervision or powerful emotions are present. I can only urge you to seek help if either of these are the case with your home life, hiding from problems almost never solves them._

_ Given that what we do is different I can't really offer any advice on how to take your wandless magic further other than to keep trying and keep experimenting. What I can do however is offer to help you learn some sorcery or at the very least the basics, it is however something I feel you should wait to learn until after your third year and you have a better grasp of the principals of magic._

_ On a brighter note I am pleased to hear you are progressing well with your occlumency professor Snape tells me you have all advanced to the stage of sorting your memories. A word of advice some of your more emotional memories can be difficult to process, I found that the best way to deal with them was to deal with not the memory its self but those that caused you to feel the emotions in it._

_Good luck with your upcoming exams _

_Sincerely _

_Albus Dumbledore._

having finished his letter to Harry he folded it up and spelled a blob of wax to seal it before handing it off to Fawkes who took it gleefully trilling ask he disappeared into a burst of flame. There was still so many letters to answer from just about every source the minister for magic included it was depressing to even start with the less fun letters to answer.

Meanwhile back at Hogwarts the entire castle was in a state of chaos; now this might logically seem to be the natural state for a castle in which magic is studied however it was precisely because it was coming to the end of the school year that the castle was in this state of extra chaotic chaos.

While normally the library was a fairly quiet place people just coming in for a quiet conversation or to borrow or return a book, now there was extremely stressed fifth and seventh years rushing to try and brush up on the facts of the subjects they were taking for the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s respectively. There had even been the occasional fight, though of course it had resulted in both parties being band from the library for a day after they had resorted to pulling each other's hair, after that the rest of the frantic students had behaved much better for fear of losing precious pre-exam time in the library.

But it wasn't just those cramming for their major exams that were in a tizzy, in fact most students were it was only the exceptionally prepared or the exceptionally dim that were not attempting to get in some last minute revision. Most were doing so together in small and medium sized groups of around five to ten, some of the acknowledged smarter children helping the less able in most cases.

Even first years were in a chaotic scramble for books and space to study in Harry Hermione and Neville had somehow managed to get a table to themselves in the library early on, whether that was due to the large amount of books they had brought to the table or simply because no one wanted to get in the way of the frantic looking Hermione was anyone's guess. The table hadn't stayed their own for long though they had eventually been joined by other first years.

The first to join were a couple of Hufflepuffs, Susan Bones and Hanna Abbot. Susan had a quite pale complexion and the kind of red hair you expect to be died rather than natural despite it being so, she was also rather short. Hanna however was fair haired with brown eyes and was noticeably taller than her red haired companion.

They had come over and Susan had introduced them before asking for help with their revision, it being a widely acknowledged fact that Harry was the best at practical magic classes and that Hermione took the most extensive notes, even amongst Ravenclaws. They had offered in exchange to help with theory of magic and potions, both having being raised in magical families this was the things they had been taught before Hogwarts, Neville being clumsy had not been taught potions.

They had not been alone however in coming to the table, Daphne Greengrass and Blaze Zabini of Slytherin had also joined their little study group of thought they had phrased it differently in that they "had decided to pool their resources for the best possible outcome", something Harry thought was wordy for asking if they could join.

Though I t was kind of nice to have some company from a different house nether Harry nor Hermione were as naive to think that they could so easily call them friends, at least not yet, not while there was such an obvious motive for it. both had had some rough times in primary school Hermione had experienced this kind of behaviour first hand and while Harry hadn't he had been somewhat hardened to making friends some time before he discovered his magic due to Dudley's bullying of potential friends and how quick they abandoned him thereafter.

The group had gotten on well enough Harry, Hermione and Neville all learned a fair bit about potions, specifically that each action regarding the making of tied directly to an arithmetical formula, not that that helped Harry given his lack of knowledge of arithmency other than it presumably had something to do with maths and magic. It did however excite Hermione and she quizzed Susan and the others on the subject.

Hanna had given them all a lecture on theory of magic mixed with a little history of magic, something the trio despite looking up famous people and historical events seemed to miss. She talked about how magic was around first and then plants adapted to make better use of it, so too did animals feasting of these now magical plants and eventually humans too, it made a certain kind of sense to Harry and Hermione thinking back to pictures of monkeys turning into humans from primary school.

Daphne and blaze were amazingly organised with their notes from class almost as much as Hermione's but the different styles of notes had helped everyone get a better understanding of each subject, Hermione's being too dry for some. Neville had surprised the group by being very knowledgeable about herbology; it apparently came from looking after the plants at home while growing up.

It wasn't all roses and sunshine though, both Neville and the Hufflepuff girls had been very nervous around the Slytherins and it wasn't until much later that Harry found out why. In the common room after putting away his notes Harry was playing with Archimedes while Hermione was compiling a combined set of notes from today's revision when he finally asked Neville what the score was with him and the Slytherins.

"So what's with you and those Slytherins, you were all twitchy every time one of them reached over the table?" Harry asked Neville.

"Huh, oh, I mean I know you don't really pay attention to the whole Gryffindor, Slytherin rivalry thing but it's not just people being silly." Neville said.

"What are you talking about they seemed perfectly fine to me, I mean I know they just wanted help with their revision but it's not exactly a crime and it's hardly worth hating them over or anything." Harry said genuinely confused by Neville's words.

"It's not that I hate them, it's just that I don't trust them." Neville said.

"Well obviously you just met them it would be stupid to trust them right away especially when there is such an obvious motive for them coming to us." Harry said.

"It's not just that, I don't trust them specifically." Neville said.

"Huh, why? They've done nothing wrong as far as I can tell." Harry replied.

"Phfff, that's kinda the point their families are sort of the "they haven't done anything as far as I can tell~" specialists of the magical world." Neville said after a short exhale.

"Come on your being intentionally vague now" Harry said getting short with his friend getting Hermione's attention with his tone of voice.

"Ok ok, look both of their families are quite wealthy, but it's how they came about their wealth that is the issue. Blaze's family came about it by marrying into it." Neville said in a much quieter tone than the rest of the conversation so far.

"Well there's nothing wrong with that, I was under the impression that it was quite common to want to marry up so to speak." Hermione said.

"Yea well that's not the problem it's that his mother did it several times." Neville shot back.

"So what if she got divorced, don't tell me magical society is still so backwards as to think people should stay married if they aren't happy together." Hermione said getting quite irate.

"No its not and that's not a kind thing to say Hermione." Neville said quite upset with Hermione's outburst.

"Sorry." She said feeling a bit sheepish.

"I know things aren't how they are in the muggle world but that hardly means we are so "backwards" we can't function." Neville said making finger quotations around the word backwards.

"She said sorry Nev let it go, she just spoke without thinking is all, happens to us all at some point." Harry said intervening between the two.

"Yea ok, anyway, as I was saying, it's not that even that she got married several times it's that as soon as they had been married a year sometimes two the husband came down with a disease or died of natural causes. Now they couldn't prove anything but they were all youngish and its more than a little off don't you think." Neville practically whispered this time, the others leaning in to hear him.

"Oh, ok yea that's a bit dubious then." Hermione said quietly.

"What about Daphne's family then?" Harry asked.

"Well that's a little bit difficult." Neville said.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Well the thing is no one knows how they made their money." Neville said.

"That's hardly a reason not to trust them I bet there is plenty of rich people you don't know how they made their money." Hermione said.

"Maybe in the muggle world, but that's not how it works in the wizarding world." Neville said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well look I know your family makes its money from printing books and mine from growing potions ingredients, Malfoy's from farming acromantula silk and so on. The wizarding community is small enough that it's almost possible to find out who you galleons are going to when you spend money in a shop."

"Huh, that's kinda interesting but I still don't see the point." Harry said.

"Hmmm, maybe they invested in the muggle world or something I mean the wizarding world must do at least some business with the muggle for things like food and stuff." Hermione said.

"I honestly don't know about food Hermione our elf gets it at home and I assume it's the same here at Hogwarts so I don't know where it comes from. But I can tell you this they didn't make their money from investing in the muggle world; no pureblood family would risk it." Neville said.

"What do you mean they wouldn't risk it? The stigma from making money by muggle means can't be that bad surely." Hermione said incredulously.

"It's not that there is a stigma to it though I'm sure there would be if it was legal. Something to do with a goblin rebellion or something I never really got all the details from gran." Neville replied.

"I'm more interested in the whole food thing, it's gotta come from somewhere presumably you can't just magic up food." Harry said when no one answered him returning back to the subject of Greengrass he filed it away to find out later though he would forget anyway.

"I suppose if it's illegal and if that's how they are making their money it could be worrisome, but it's still no reason not to give their children the benefit of the doubt." Hermione continued to express, all the while Harry thought exactly the opposite the kind of people that would risk the presumed danger of the goblins for money he thought would likely not be the kind of people you want to know.

The difference in opinion between the two could probably be traced back to their childhoods. While Hermione and Harry had both had to deal with bullying and a lack of friends it was only Harry that had had to deal with untrustworthy adults and as such had become suspicious of the motives of those who offered help. Hermione however had seen teachers as a refuge from the mean children on the playground.

A.N. I want to point out that Lucius's thoughts on the corruption of the ministry are his opinion and conclusion put forth in a manner best to persuade Sirius whether on not he believes what he is saying is up to you. Also this is a clear case of 1+1=3 i.e. the simplest solution was to assume stupidity and incompetence on the part of people and he has clearly built up a little conspiracy to fit together facts again his belief that is the case is debatable he is trying to persuade Sirius not expound his own beliefs


	14. Exams and Exorcisms

**Chapter 14 – Exams and Exorcisms.**

It had finally come, at least for the first years, the time of year all students dread, exam time. The first years had been scheduled to be examined first in an effort to give fifth and seventh years just that little bit extra time to cram in the last little bit of revision they could.

First year exams being that there were so few subjects and very little to really test the students on were only set to take a single week. Even then it would take place in normal lesson time the only difference being that most of the rooms had been rearranged where once stood long tiered benches on either side of a room for most classes now individual desks with chairs sat.

The first exam of the week was defence against the dark arts and was an exception to the rule of standard lay out indicating a different approach to the exam, not that the students would know this it being their first and all. Professor Moody had cleared a large space in his classroom and had charmed the cold stone floor and walls with cushioning charms.

At the start of the exam time Moody had instructed all the students to enter the room and line up along the back wall of the class. Having done so all the students then waited for Moody to follow then in, something he took his time about purposefully to increase their nervousness.

When he eventually came to stand at the front of the class a line of very nervous first years arrayed in front of him he gave a small speech.

"Defence against the dark arts is as I hope you have noticed over the course of the year, less to do with magic and more to do with physical fitness. As such the exam for this will as I'm sure you'll find out very different to others. I don't expect you to list of useless lists of spells and their counters, what would be the point if you're not fit enough to avoid them when the time comes. What I do expect is you to be fit and ready to defend yourself against the dark arts in a moment's notice. In short what I expect is constant vigilance."

"This exam is going to test exactly that. What I want you to do is to lightly jog around the room as a line and you are going to keep jogging until you are absolutely cant anymore. But that's not all that's far too simple with the exercise you have all been getting in my class this year I expect this to be nothing more than I described it to you a light jog. What I am going to do is begin by randomly shooting off stinging spells, first in any old direction and then targeting you. Again once you can't take any more I expect you to stand against the front wall. Grades will be awarded on how long you lasted and how few times you were stung and be warned I have high standards and do not give out Outstanding's." Professor Moody told the students.

Harry was feeling pretty confident about this, his time as a target for Dudley had given him excellent peripheral awareness in order to avoid things thrown at him and doing the kind of chores the Dursleys had asked of him had kept him fit once he had started getting the food to supply the work. Added together with defence lessons from this year harry was fairly confident he was among the fittest first years and was in with a good chance of doing well, he was however worried about Hermione and Neville nether of witch seemed to be particularly physically inclined.

In fact from what Harry could tell wizards in general were less than active when it came to exercise, Moody being something of an oddity in that regard. As far as he could tell everyone in the class had hated the sessions of dodging over the shielding sessions the professor had taught.

"Now get moving" Moody almost shouted waking Harry from his introspection.

The class started their jog around the room at a slow steady pace harry having already started close to the beginning of the line had with little effort moved himself to the front of the pack almost right away. Surprisingly he wasn't the only one doing well Weasley was also fairly close to the front of the pack, it didn't last however.

Five minutes into the test Moody as promised started shooting off stinging hexes in seemingly random directions at first no one was hit and most were lulled into a sense of security that it wasn't being aimed at them. At least until Hermione gave a yelp as she had been stung.

"let that be a lesson to you just because a spell wasn't aimed at you does not mean it cannot hit you a curse that wasn't aimed at you is just as deadly if not more so than the one aimed at you, remember constant vigilance even for the unexpected." Moody said before going back to sitting on his chair in the centre of the room.

After that everyone was much more alert there were only two more hits while Moody wasn't actively targeting people and no one had yet stopped jogging, though several had started breathing heavily. Harry however was still full of energy he had often spent playtimes in days gone by running from Dudley and his gang and while Dudley himself wasn't particularly fast some of his gang were.

It wasn't long before Moody started targeting students actively, unsurprisingly he started with harry. Who was however ready for him expecting something of this sort when he had pulled ahead of the others, he hopped over the first spell and ducked under the second then turned his body so the third missed him all the while continuing to jog. He was one of the few who managed to dodge all three of Moody's first volley of spells.

Fifteen minutes in now and every student had had a volley shot at them at least once; it was time for Moody to step it up a little. Where before he had only shot at each student three times he was now shooting till he hit them. Unlike last time he didn't start with Harry though by the time he had gotten to him several had given up either from exhaustion or from seeing the others get stung a few times and not wanting to experience it them self's.

Among those who had given up was Neville having being completely exhausted. Most of the purebloods followed soon after many not having had any kind of regular exercise other than playing with other children. Of the few left were Draco and Ron the desire to outlast the other clearly plastered over their faces nether willing to give in before the other? Unfortunately in glaring at each other they completely failed to notice Susan Bones, who they tripped over, earning each of them their sit out having hurt each other.

Down to just the muggleborns, surprisingly Hermione among them though breathing very heavily now. Harry who had in his youth when incapable of holding his aura of ignore had had to outrun Dudley's gang for an entire lunch time on a regular basis was still barely feeling the strain. Though there were others who seemed athletic, Dean Thomas who had been a keen footballer in primary school was also doing fine though he had had a bit more trouble dodging Moody's attacks than Harry.

When Moody stepped it up again it was clear many who were left didn't have the energy to pay attention to their surroundings or if they did didn't have enough to dodge his attacks. As such Hermione was one of the next to be eliminated, she left the course to stand by the wall rubbing her leg where moody had shot her last.

When Moody moved to attack harry again this time Harry had an idea and had prepared for Moody's onslaught. Instead of skipping, ducking and dodging as he had done previously to avoid the spell bolts, this time he shielded against them with the spell protego. It worked and it got him an outburst from Moody.

"At last I was beginning to think the lot of you hadn't learned anything this year. You should all be ashamed that it took till there were only three students left before anyone even thought to use magic to defend themselves. I will say it again what is the point in learning to use magic to defend yourself if you don't think to or can't use it when the situation calls for it. The class is called defence against the dark arts and its being taught at a magic school did none of you think it might be an idea to I don't know defend yourself instead of just running, where is the constant vigilance I have been trying to get you to practice." Moody lectured letting the three remaining students run unhindered for a while.

When he returned to shooting at Dean, Harry and Justin Finch-Flechley he did so much more eagerly and with much more ferocity. While Dean was probably the fittest of the remaining three from his sports background he wasn't the most aware of his situation nor was he as good with magic as the other two and was next to be knocked out. Justin lasting a while longer blocking several of Moody's spells before he could no longer raise a shield.

When only Harry was left Moody redoubled his efforts yet again though still using normal low powered stinging hexes he was doing so very frequently. Harry had less trouble keeping his shield up than Moody had anticipated so he switched to a constant stream instead of individual bolts of the spell; he was going to get Potter to give up.

It wasn't long, maybe thirty seconds under the strain of shielding against this that Harry let his shield drop as he dived and rolled out of the way of the beam. However he had come up with another plan he wasn't just going to run and take this, he hadn't let his uncle break him and he wouldn't let Moody. So he fired back his own hex this was a simple petrification hex for the upper body, he was hoping Moody wouldn't be expecting this and it would give him some breathing room.

"Armus Mortis" Harry puffed out while swishing his wand at Moody.

Unfortunately for Harry not only did he miss but it only seemed to encourage Moody further?

"Excellent Potter but what were you aiming at I didn't even have to move now let's see how long you last" Moody practically taunted.

With that he resumed his fast paced spell fire at Harry, hitting him far more frequently than before. However harry had been used to pain before and wasn't going to let a little stinging make him stop, he wouldn't brake no matter who tried to brake him. He just grits his teeth and kept running however Moody could see he wasn't going to get anywhere with his stinging hexes and simply stunned the lad.

After waking Harry with an "enervate" Moody addressed the class as a whole.

"Now all of you did at least adequately so you will all be getting at least an A in your results for this so not to worry. However can any of you tell me how Mr Potter could have done better given he lasted the longest of any of you and even managed to fight back?" Moody asked.

However no one really had an answer for him those who had gotten their breath back had been mildly ashamed that they hadn't thought to use spells to defend themselves especially when a muggle raised had.

"I don't know sir" one student eventually spoke up from behind someone else.

"don't you indeed well here's the rub lad, sometimes no matter how hard you try there is a point were no matter what you do you just can't win and the only thing left to do is give up. Blind determination against all the odds will get you far but it's not enough you have to know when it's the right time to give up can anyone tells me when that is?" Moody asked.

"never." Harry said from the floor in a panting breath.

"No I just said there is a point when you have to give up weren't you listening? Anyone else? Yes you Draco." Moody said chastising Harry.

"When it is most advantageous to you, when it will give you an opportunity at a later time to reach your goals." Draco said remembering his father's lessons on politics.

"Exactly, as much as we would all like to believe that we can deal with any situation that presents its self, one day we all end up against the wall with no were left to turn. That's when you need to create an opening, an opportunity to escape giving up is an excellent way to do that, not only will it throw off your enemies it gives you chance to revaluate the situation and figure out what the best Couse of action is." Moody said.

"Now once you've all got your breaths back you can head back to your dorms and get a shower." Moody finished.

Having showered and changed and eaten lunch Neville was heading down for the herbology exam, after the exhausting defence test he was quite thankful that herbology was next it was his best subject. Not only was it his best subject but it was something that had relaxed him in his youth while working in his family's greenhouses, well the least dangerous one the others all required the use of a wand. It was much the same in Hogwarts as it was at home for Neville, while in the greenhouse working with the plants he was in his own little world where he could let his troubles go for a time.

However for Neville first year herbology while easy had been a little dull, with his experience at home he hadn't actually learned anything new it had for his essentially seemed like introducing everyone else to things he already knew. He had helped Hermione out from time to time over the year; she hadn't seemed too keen on getting her hands dirty and had refused to take the gloves off for some of the more delicate work. Harry had seemed fine with getting stuck in there pruning where it was needed and transplanting plants from one pot to a larger one hadn't daunted him at all, he had done similar when his aunt had bought a new rose bush once.

The test much to Neville's pleasure was going to be easy for him all they had to do was transplant an Alihosty shrub and prune it for potions ingredients while keeping it healthy. The plant was one he had done almost exactly that at home although he hadn't been allowed to prune it at the time.

The idea behind the test was clearly to test the students practical skills learnt throughout the year. First was the preparation of the new transplant site including fertilizing it, followed by the actual transplant, making sure as not to damage any roots. Next was checking the leaves to see witch if any were ready to harvest, whilst making sure it remove any parasites with the potion wipe they had been shown in class. Then came the actual pruning while a simple matter the leaves needed to be stored correctly, so as not to affect anyone with the hysteria effect they were known for.

All in all Neville found it quite relaxing he hadn't even noticed professor Sprout watching him as he went about his work. Hermione had not enjoyed the exam though the preparation of the new site had her making faces at having to trowel out a bit of dragon dung for the plan, the smell was less than pleasant, and once that was over though she had finished without much fuss. It was much the same for most of the other students several of them holding their trowels of dragon poo at arm's length while filling the hole.

Conversation at tea that day was mostly about Moody's exam in the morning. Hermione was especially vocal about it.

"I don't think its right; he shouldn't be allowed to just shoot stinging hexes at people." She said.

"I dunno it's not like they really hurt Hermione it's just something to encourage you not to get hit" Neville said.

"still it's not right, I think I still have pins and needles in my thigh from being hit there so much" she replied.

"Well then you'll have to just do better next time won't you?" Harry said sticking his tongue out.

"Humph, see if I help you revise again" she replied jokingly.

"Awww, woe is me; what ever shall I do now." Harry said over exaggerating somewhat.

"prat." Hermione finished.

The next day was charms and theory of magic, a much less intense and much less physically exhausting day altogether. This was the exams Hermione thought she could really excel on theory of magic was very much about regurgitating facts and charms was something she had shown quite an aptitude for especially after Harry's lessons for wandless magic. Almost everything in charms so far had been possible without a wand and because she was determined to be able to get her quill to write like harry had his, her control had skyrocketed.

So when it came to the charms exam in the morning all of Harrys group had great confidence that they would ace this class. The actual exam its self was split into three parts the first was a control exercise in that the students had to float a small rubber ball through some hoops in a miniature obstacle course. That was followed up by a power test in that they had to demonstrate the ability to perform and keep powered a simple fire spell. The final part was a test of the knowledge they had accumulated, for those that had done Moody's homework this would be simple, as it was a list of spells asking for the missing part being the incantation, the description of the bolt, the description of the effect or all three when given only the name.

With the training they had endured this year compared to others no student had any trouble with the power test some were even supposed at how trivial it seemed, especially as they had heard from some second years that charms was supposed to be one of the harder exams, defence against the dark arts normally being something of a joke.

It was the control aspect where there was the most difficulty's this year prime example being Ron Weasley. Now Ron had no trouble with the power aspect of this exam though he did struggle to remember the different incantations from only bolt descriptions not that he was the only one with that particular difficulty.

His problem with the control part is that during the lesson for learning the levitation spell and the variants he had been unable to perform the spell, understandably so it was one of the first lessons. The issue however was that were others had gone away and made sure they knew the spell afterwards he hadn't thinking 'when am I ever going to need to levitate a feather' forgetting of course that schools don't generally care when you're going to need to do the things they test only that you know how to do them.

So when it came time to do the actual test he had had to cast the spell three times to get the ball to float. He was so embarrassed with his performance at getting the ball of the table initially he over shot some of the hoops and missed one out entirely having to make his ball go back and float through the hoop properly. After that he just wanted the rest of the exam to be over and for no one to have seen his mistake on the first part.

Harry's performance on the first part had been much better his home grown sorcerer's apprentice style cleaning of the kitchen had given him excellent fine magical control, especially with floating objects. He had been able to make the ball speed through the hoops like a pinball barely stopping to change direction before the next hoop.

It had been after that the Ron had decided he had better revise for the other exams a bit more thoroughly. He had spent last night playing wizards chess with Seamus Finnegan, the only student who had managed to blow up his fire spell into an explosion on the test.

When the exam for theory of magic came round Hermione was positively bouncing, she had taken to carrying around the books for the days exams and had been reading the one for the upcoming exam all through lunch. It was something harry and Neville had both been annoyed at given her sudden outbursts every so often about some anachronistic theory of magic, especially when they had thought she had been consulting their opinion about it before realising she was just talking to herself to confirm it.

The exam had been one of the more muggle style exams they had had, it was simply a booklet with questions with an especially charmed anti-cheating quill on a desk, and there was no need to demonstrate any spells only answer questions. It was for this reason Hermione finished first and had come out with ink splotches all over her fingers from the speed she had been writing and from how much she had written.

Her behaviour at dinner time had the boys ignoring her questioning of their opinion of their possible results until after they have both finished eating.

"Look Hermione you need to calm down, you don't even realise you completely ignored us all dinner time while talking to yourself, with your head in your book do you?" harry said at first harshly then softly realising she really didn't know she had done it.

"oh" she said and after a pause "sorry, I didn't mean to its just I want to do well and these exams some of them have been so different to what I'm used to I just didn't know what to expect." She continued.

"Look its ok but try to calm down a bit, I know the exams a different from primary school but you don't see me or Dean talking to our books do you." He said to Hermione, Dean's head popping up and the sound of his name.

"No, I guess not, but it's just normally I would just memorise my notes for the year and ask my teachers for some extra homework on the subject to help. With the way these exams have been so practical over theory I was hoping I could make up for my less than stellar performance in defence with my theory mark." Hermione said getting quieter as she got to the end of her sentence.

"oh come on it's not that bad Hermione you herd him yourself he doesn't give out O's it's not like it's the end of the world if you don't get perfect marks as long as you pass and you've learned the stuff they are teaching us. It's when we get to fifth year and seventh year that it really matters with the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s." Neville said trying to reassure Hermione.

"But what if I didn't do well enough to pass defence, I could have done better I'm sure, it didn't hurt that bad I could have kept running." Hermione said panicking a little.

"You did fine Hermione. It's not like it would have mattered anyway you saw what he did when I kept running at the end, the test was designed so it was only a matter of time and he said we all did adequately so don't worry about it." Harry said calming Hermione down some.

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day with three exams, flying in the morning, followed by transfiguration in the afternoon, and then shortly after sunset astronomy. Fortunately Friday morning would be history of magic's exam and if it was anything like the lessons it would give plenty of time to sleep afterwards.

As it was nether Hermione or Neville was looking forward to the flying exam, both of them were afraid of heights. Neville had been afraid of heights since his uncle had dropped him out the window to test his magic, more than that though it had been scary to him before that it was the reason his uncle had chosen that method instead of shocking him some other way. Hermione however had no trauma of falling, she simply had the very rational thought that what if she fell and the cushioning charms shed been told about didn't work or her accidental magic didn't kick in like it was supposed to, besides what would she need to fly for anyway the walking was perfectly adequate thank you very much.

Harry however was looking forward to it immensely he had enjoyed every single lesson on the brooms and looked forward to each and every one. On a broom he felt he could do anything it was a sensation of total control of movement, as though he could control the very air around him. Obviously he couldn't but it's the sort of feeling truly gifted skateboarders feel, as though the broom was a part of him that he could manipulate with no more effort than stretching out his finger.

The flying exam the next morning was while harder than the one they had taken in the first term not too difficult though there had been requirements like being able to fly in a controlled manner while a passenger rides behind you, there was also the ability to fly one handed necessary too. That would also be important for the final part of the test witch involved proving they could use magic while flying in-order to hit a floating target with any spell the student liked.

The students had had to pair up at the start of the test for one to be the passenger and one to drive. Hermione had paired up with Harry; Neville had gone with Susan Bones. The tests themselves had been a bit of a trauma for Harry and Hermione as during one section where a dive was involved Hermione had panicked while Harry had been flying and had wrapped her arms around him really tightly preventing him from properly steering, he had managed to correct it but thought it might lose him points it was perhaps his fault for taking the dive too steep and too fast after all.

The afternoon's exam however was much more interesting and was the main topic of conversation for all first years at tea time. The main question they were all asking was. "What did you turn yours into?" The reason everyone was asking this was because transfiguration is one of the more creative branches of magic analogous to art in a muggle school.

The exam it's self-had consisted of each student being asked in one at a time and then professor McGonagall would ask them to transfigure the five items on her desk into anything they chose. Points would be awarded on creativity, functionality of the final item, and difficulty of the transfiguration. Everyone had been presented with the same objects, a match, a quill, a rubber ball, a thimble and a spoon.

When Harry had entered the class room he had thought it would be easy and truly it would be they had used each of these objects throughout the year, the problem Harry had with that is it seemed just a tad too easy to transfigure these objects into exactly what they had been doing all year. So when he transfigured each object it was into something entirely different to what they had done in class.

The match, that while in class they had all transfigured into a needle and though it a bit silly Harry had decided to transfigure it into something a bit more practical a lighter. He turned it into a zippo styled lighter with the Hogwarts crest on one side and the Gryffindor lion on the other both in colour remembering earlier lessons on patterns. He had even managed to get the cotton to fill the inside as well as a wick and flint, his only real mistake with this had been the fuel it being an exception of transfiguration under gamps second principle of elemental transfiguration.

Gamp's second principle states that any energy rich material when transfigured must have at least as much energy going into the equation as may be generated by the final product. Such that flammable, radioactive or even magical materials must have been given enough power that any reaction said material is possible of creating must have been able to be powered by the spell used to transfigure said material. What that boils down to was that while the very basic transfiguration spell is capable of a lot of things the upper limits of its power restrictions make it impossible to create combustible materials as such that part of Harry's spell failed.

The quill Harry had transfigured into an elegant fountain pen complete with ink and a Hogwarts crest engraved on the clip attached to the lid. The pen its self was a deep crimson in colour with black ink. He had transfigured his first two based of the function of the original item thinking that a pen was better than a quill and a lighter better than a match and much more functional than the needle and piece of parchment they had been taught to turn them into.

The ball made Harry think of the quidditch and as such he had attempted to transfigure his ball into a snitch. He had however failed in his attempt to do so this time because snitches are highly enchanted objects made especially for each match. Without knowing and casting the enchantments on the newly transfigured snitch it was just a shiny ball of metal with wings a pretty one none the less but useless all the same.

The thimble Harry had turned into a drinking tankard when the thought of a quote he had her somewhere before of a thimble full of booze. It had been a metal reinforced drinking tankard with a metal crest on in again in his default pattern of the Hogwarts crest. Most of his works so far had shown a fair bit of multiple material transfigurations, especially the lighter, but they had all used the same pattern rather than differing each time.

The final item he transfigured from the spoon had been an earring with a lion dangling from it; it wasn't terribly fancy only made from the same material as the spoon originally was. He really hadn't wanted to turn it into a fork like they had in class nor did he think a knife was much more creative.

Most of his spells had pushed the limits of what the spell was capable of creating more material than was available to begin with. Harry had known this and was banking on this bringing up his grade for lack of imagination regarding his lion and Hogwarts motif. He had been disappointed in his lighter not working, something he promised himself he would look up in the future.

Astronomy would by comparison be almost completely forgotten by the morning as it was little more than a regular class except they had to note the things themselves instead of having them pointed out first.

The next morning they had potions this was more of a safety check rather than an exam. Professor Snape had them identify potions for healing minor potions related injury's obviously they also had to demonstrate the ability to make one too. He had them create a potion that would be useful to St. Mungos burn ward, the burn soothing paste.

Now this shouldn't really be a test of their skill as they had done it in class before, however this time they had a few extra little things to take care of. First off they were all doing it solo rather than with a partner and secondly it all needed to be scaled up as they were now using a much larger cauldron and make a much larger quantity, lots of people burn themselves and St Mungos uses a lot of burn paste.

The first wasn't a terribly difficult thing for most students and even Neville was competent enough to work alone now. The second was a bit more difficult as it involved working out the volume of the old cauldron and the new one and then scaling up the ingredients accordingly. Some ingredients needed preparing in new ways to deal with a scaled up to a measure and a half of a bean or a nut while others took much longer to mash or crush. The thing that would catch most out though would be the brewing time as it increased dramatically on a different scale to the simple scale the ingredients had, it was a square instead of a multiplication, as such only those who had extensively read instruction on different cauldron sizes for the potions listed in their books could have noticed.

The final exam was one that would be talked about for a long time to come and yet it was the one almost everyone thought would be utterly uninteresting, history of magic. The exam its self wasn't special, almost nothing changed from the previous year's exam. What was special was what happened at the end.

Harry had had enough of learning about goblins and goblin rebellions, to attend this class you would thing magical history had almost nothing to do with witches and wizards. He was absolutely determined to find out why this ghost professor seemed utterly obsessed with them as opposed to the infinitely more interesting things he had learned with Hermione and Neville and that Hanna Abbot had told them of druids. This is why at the end of the exam instead of sitting and waiting for others to finish Harry's hand was in the air.

It took a while but eventually Professor Binns noticed and looked up.

"Mr Potter I cannot answer any questions for you while the exam is in progress if you can wait till after the exam I will answer your questions." Binns said.

"yes sir" Harry said what this did was get everyone's attention that Harry was going to ask something though they didn't know what it was they would by the end of the exam be very curious. The remaining twenty minutes of the exam had students paying more attention that at any other time in history of magic perhaps since Binn's had taken the class in the first place.

Finally once everyone had put their quills down and brought their papers to the front, Binns being unable to do it himself, he finally asked Harry what he wanted.

"You had a question Mr Potter?" he asked.

"Yes sir, I was wondering why you keep covering these goblin rebellions rather than the more interesting stuff? We had barely a month on the stuff covered in the actual exam and the rest was spent going over names of goblins and the dates they rebelled, it all seemed kinda the same." Harry asked the somewhat taboo question. He was surprised when the professor seemed to brighten up at the question.

"That Mr Potter is a very good question. Why indeed would I keep bringing up goblin rebellions when it has very little to do with magical history?" he asked rhetorically pausing for a short time letting the students take in the question.

"Because it has everything to do with magical history, almost every event since the statue of secrecy was passed can be directly traced back to a goblin rebellion as the inciting incident. With the statue of secrecy the ministry was charged with keeping magical creatures out of the sight of muggles. At first it was a huge job that had the muggle military at the time to help sort things out."

"The problem came once the muggles stopped helping to leave us to manage the situation. At first everything was fine magical creatures in reserves were bread for potions ingredients and the like and things were easy to control. However after some time the goblins it emerged had devised a plan, they had been breeding in their ministry assigned plot of land."

"They used this surplus of personnel to strong arm the ministry into giving them a monopoly over the banking system. Not that it was as civilised as all that, it being the first goblin rebellion it was quite bloody. That lead to another granting them unilateral control over exchange rates, and another over the right to refuse service to anyone they chose. Which they used to stop muggleborns working in the muggle world and buying magical goods, leading to several dark lords and other problems. So many of the issues with today's magical world are almost entirely the goblins fault, and I suspect they are at least partially responsible for the statue of secrecy in the first place." The professor said with more passion than anyone had ever heard him speak with.

Several students had a look of a dawning realisation on their faces; others were still shocked at the professor's passion for once. With the students finally understanding the danger goblins clearly presented Binns felt for the first time since he had died a sense of contentment at having finally convinced someone of the ever present danger of goblins. He was finally free of the burden of trying to make others see the truth; he let out a sympathetic sigh of relief and faded out of existence his business complete.

"Er, professor Binns?" Harry asked getting no answer.

"I think he passed on or something" Dean said.

"Someone should probably get another professor and let them know." Hermione said.

"I'll do it." Said Zacharias Smith the consummate Hufflepuff.

It later transpired that professor Binns had indeed passed on; they had been informed later that same day at tea by professor McGonagall. She had explained for those unfamiliar with ghosts that every ghost had unfinished business or some other impetus holding them back from the great beyond and once resolved they passed on as they would have initially.

A.N. "Armus Mortis" = shoulder lock

A.N. let's face it cannon harry is the typical jock only set in a world of magic


	15. End of Year Round Up

**Chapter 15 – End of year round up.**

With exams over, for first years at least and classes winding down with teachers devoting more time to older students for their exams, first years found them self with more free time than normal. Harry had decided to use this time to evaluate the change in his life since coming to Hogwarts and to work on his occlumency.

The first things he realised upon really thinking about it for the first time since coming to Hogwarts was that his plan for getting out of the Dursley's had dramatically changed. Before Harry's plan had been to go to a casino and use his practiced telekinetic abilities to make the dice fall as he wanted to make some money and hopefully buy his way out, that plus a job, would hopefully have been enough to get him a good start.

However with the discovery of a whole community of magic users and magical creatures this opened some other options as well as closed others. He no longer felt that using magic to cheat the tables would go unnoticed. While he didn't consider using magic to rip off a casino cheating, he had looked into it a little and if casinos could kick people out for what they called cheating, counting cards, despite it not being illegal he felt using magic would have been a nice comeuppance for them. With a community of magic users and goblins throttling their economy his use of magic to rip off a casino wouldn't be lightly to go unnoticed.

Now with a community of magic users there were a few more options open to him. Clearly he was somewhat famous in the magical world; this again was both a good and a bad thing. It was good because it would hopefully make it easier for him to get a job with company's hoping to trade in on his fame to increase their profits. It was however also bad anonymity is an important tool for a lot of professions and not all of them illegal.

Something else to consider was the relatively large pile of gold in his vault, his parents had left him a fairly substantial sum of gold. This left him with some questions, how did they come across it what else did they leave him and why had none of their friends came to take him away from the Dursleys like he had dreamed as a child, surely they had friends. Intact given that his parents must have come to this school perhaps the teachers could tell him something about them.

That wasn't everything though with what he had learned about well-paying professions in wizarding England his options for making money that way were limited to what he could get into. Without land and a large lump sum plus specific knowledge of animal husbandry for magical animals or magical plants he wouldn't be able to go into that industry. However other professions available to him such as quidditch pro and curse breaker were clearly skill based and their rewards were based on danger and fame as opposed to time, neither would really require him to make a choice till the end of next year as he understood it and even then he could still pursue both for some time.

He had made friends this year, acquaintances too, but he had had those before, friends however were new. With both his perceived "weirdness" in primary and Dudley's bullying early on making friends had been impossible. It was somewhat nice to have people to talk to; he had even shared some quite personal things and taught them to use magic without a wand. That had been something of a surprise too. He had figured that there had to be others that could use wandless magic, but then he supposed that other peoples parents probably paid more attention to their children than the Dursleys had Harry.

Neville and Hermione had been almost a constant presence in his life since coming to Hogwarts. Neville become much more confident in his own abilities since he had become friends with Harry, his grandmother becoming headmistress had clearly been a surprise for him but hadn't really affected his new found confidence. She had however affected the school, as far as Harry could tell she had brought the school up to the standard it probably should have been, why it wasn't like that was probably the length of time it had been under a single headmasters control.

He had seen it before his old headmaster at Surry had been at the job for forty years before he had retired in Harry's forth year. The man had been clearly very old school and while well-meaning hadn't adopted any of the new teaching methods. As soon as he retired his replacement had changed many things, hiring classroom assistants, changed classroom layouts, and rearranged the class schedules and many other changes.

Hermione had defiantly been a good choice in friend for him. When he had first met her on the train she had been full of energy and excited about meeting new people like her, if he hadn't made friends with her there and she hadn't found someone that energy would have lightly faded quickly and left a very quiet and subdued girl a shell of her former self behind. However with Harry's friendship she had grown into herself a bit, what had previously been an unquenchable thrust for knowledge from books had become a much more healthy curiosity of the inner workings of things, in this case magic.

She had clearly enjoyed researching magical history and then comparing it to what she had understood of muggle history; Harry had enjoyed her conclusions too. She'd also put in a lot of work on both her occlumency and Harry's lessons on wandless magic, clearly she desperately wanted to be able to use a quill like he had sown her, but she obviously still prised information above most things, though now she hopefully prised friendship above even that.

His new acquaintances', Susan, Hanna, Blaze and Daphne, however were something of an enigma. He had assumed originally that they wanted nothing more than to exploit Hermione's clear lead in the academic sides of most classes and his skill in the more practical side. That had been somewhat the case but they had also contributed several skills each and considerably improved the group's overall utility for revision. Each had even separately or together started talking to him outside of classes and in their free time, nothing meaningful, but still polite conversation none the less. It left him wondering just what they wanted.

In another time another young boy who had discovered the secrets of wandless magic had also gone to Hogwarts School. He had however been of quite a different disposition than Harry, while Harry had used his skills as a child to remain unnoticed this other young boy had used his to strike out at his attackers, at first. Harry had then gone on to make his life easier with his magic, having his magic do his chores for him, the other young boy had done much the same however instead of his magic making his life easier he made others make his life easier via bullying and coercion.

When it came time to go to Hogwarts each had made different decisions tom, that being the young boys name, had chosen Slytherin, for the snake motif and his ability to talk to snakes, Harry, had allowed himself to be sorted into Gryffindor, though he hadn't really seen himself as brave thinking perhaps the hat saw something he didn't. Each house had been very different, the times being quite different too. Slytherin for tom had been lonely without proof of his heritage he hadn't been able to make any allies, not friends because that wasn't what he was looking for.

Consequently he had spent most of his time alone he quickly figured out who his mother was, and he wasn't pleased about it. His family had clearly bread together and had squandered their gifts, something he swore to himself he wouldn't. After that he had devoted himself to learning as much as he could, he quickly realised first year material was aimed at getting pupils familiar with their magic. Already having a firm grasp of his magic from years of practice he moved on to second and sometimes third year material. Something he also noted was his lack of ability to replicate much of the new material without his wand, a skill he hadn't shared with anyone since his slip up with the transfiguration teacher.

With his discovery of his family line he had started looking into the legend of his most famous ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. Apparently he had left a hidden chamber and had something of quarrel with the other founders, along with being a parslemouth. He hadn't had time to look nor was he as naïve as to believe he was going to find it without a much better grounding in many of the magical arts given that the castle had been searched before according to Hogwarts a history.

Given the difficulty with finding others to help him, tom had hit a metaphorical brick wall with his wandless magic, yes he could summon things, make things move and his aura of intimidation was useful, especially on those who already feared him. Without knowledge or someone to confide in about his skills he had hit a metaphorical brick wall for advancing his skills in that area. He had never heard of the idea of magic compression for faster spell fire as such he would never make the connection between that and wandless magic. That isn't to say he would give up on the talent it was still incredibly useful.

Harry on the topic of magic compression was still having some difficulty he had managed to hold the spell in his wand witch was the first step. His problem was that every time he tried to add more power to a spell it either forced the spell out or distorted it so that it no longer did anything it was a problem he hadn't overcome yet. He had been hoping to get some sort of progress before he left for the holidays but he had only just managed to keep from shooting off the spell and it wasn't quite as steady as he had wanted.

Really besides finding out that his father had been a part of the Gryffindor quidditch team Harry hadn't found much about his parents. Yes his father and his ancestry had been mentioned and catalogued in _Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy_ and there had been notations on several members but none of that told him what his mum and dad were actually like. His resolve to talk to teachers redoubled with professor McGonagall being first on his list as his father's ex-head of house he had to know something of him.

When he thought about what he had actually learned this year beyond the less tangle things like friends and his introduction to the wizarding world he found himself short. Things he could use in the real world even the magical world where few and far between very little of what was taught in transfiguration would be applicable in a real life situation, at least not to his mind at that particular moment. It left him in the odd situation of having had potions be his most useful subject of the year, probably not something many students at Hogwarts have thought over the last few years. In it he had learned several useful potions for minor injuries and accidents, and while not ground breaking definitely had real world applications.

After his thoughts on his progress for the year and his other ruminations he decided it was finally time to deal with the only memory of his parents he had. It was something he had been dreading since he realised both that was what it was and that he would have to sort it out for his occlumency to be complete. The dream he had had for almost his entire childhood the memory of his mother's death.

When he retired to his room to begin the meditation he had asked Neville to ensure he had some privacy for a few hours, not wanting the others to see him in what he imagined would be his weakest moment emotionally. He sat down and began his meditation with dread and anticipation at what he might remember beyond the green light that haunted his nightmares.

The first thing that assaulted him was unlike most of his memories he was in a first person perspective, either because his mind had been too young at the time to take in the extra detail or because he had never processed the memory properly, the night was after all traumatic. So from his point of view the first thing he saw when trying to bring up this memory was his mother's face.

He could have beheld it for an eternity, she was beautiful, she had soft smooth cheeks and a round chin with a small button nose and a long smile that seemed to go on forever, all framed by long gossamer dark red hair. Even amongst all that though what stood out most were her eyes they were almost exactly the same as his deep pools of an emerald green he had never seen anywhere else. The moment was over quickly however as his mother passed him over to his father as she left for the kitchen.

"James take Harry while I get tea out of the oven." Lilly said in a tone that said if he didn't he wouldn't be getting any tea.

"Ok pass him over, who's a going to be a good boy for daddy then, while mummy makes tea, you are yes you are." James said to Harry in that way adults talk to baby's.

Lilly hadn't gotten out of the room however when James spotted something threw the window. His attitude changed immediately, gone was the playful demeanour he had used with Harry, his body tensed up and he turned back to Lilly and passed Harry back.

"Quick Lilly he's here, he found us, take Harry and go I'll try and buy some time" James shouted handing Harry over while looking for his wand.

The next thing Harry knew he was being pushed into his mother's chest as she scrambled up the stairs. When he was next able to see anything besides his mother's bosom he was able to see what he knew to be his room from the cot in the corner near the window and the changing table against the wall.

His mother gave him one last extra tight hug and kissed him on his for head.

"I'm sorry Harry I wish I could get us out of here but the wards have come down, I can only hope that we see each other again on the other side, I love you son." Lilly said. Before she was promptly surprised by a voice from behind her.

"Touching, I suppose. Now stand aside." Said the gruesome visage that Harry assumed must be Voldemort, his face was pale and angular with a waxy appearance to it but his eyes stood out most. What had been deep brown eyes where now much closer to yellow but it was the whites that drew Harry's attention instead of the slightly bloodshot colour you might expect they were almost entirely red as though his eyes hadn't been closed in years.

Lilly however refused and begged for her son's life throwing away any pride she may have had, desperate for him to spare Harry she offered him her own life in exchange.

"Please not Harry, anything but my son, take me instead I beg you" she screeched while clawing at his shoulder in an attempt to impede his progress to Harry. All vestiges of the woman making tea earlier this evening seemed to evaporate. Where before there had been a kind and loving mother and wife there was now a desperate and loving mother with only the hope that her enemy might spare her son.

"Avada Kadavra" Voldemort said pointing his wand at Lily there was a flash of a green bolt and Harry's mother fell to the ground. With that there was a sensation that something had just happened, as though this was a moment to take note of a key deciding factor in the future. Harry had known it was coming he just hadn't expected to see his mother's dead eyes previously so full of warmth staring at him from the floor. Even Voldemort seemed to have felt something; he paused to look at his wand as if it had done something different than normal. Passing it off as his imagination he looked to Harry.

"So little Harry it's come at last, you know I expected it to be harder than this, this is very nearly as easy as taking candy from a baby. You would think fate would be harder to defy than this oh well I suppose that's life or in this case death, good bye Harry Potter." He paused here to saver this moment. "Avada Kadavra." With that there was a flash of green light again this time however unlike with his mother he didn't fall to the floor instead there was a searing pain so powerful it was literally blinding, even from a memory, all that he had remembered from that time until sometime later that night had been the pain.

It had been painful enough that even just revisiting the memory had brought back a physical pain for him now. The memory wasn't over there was still more from that night though none of it involved the pain from before now he was flying over the countryside on what appeared to be an old motorcycle and side car with what he recognised to be Hagrid driving. He was still in a first person prospective so he couldn't make out anything but the rims of the side car and the handle bars of the bike. But what he did clearly remember was the sensation of the wind on his face and how nice it felt after the searing of where his scar came to be.

The memory continued like that for some time with Harry indulging in the sensation of the wind while Hagrid drove. When the finally reached their destination Harry had been somewhat surprised to see Dumbledore.

"Here you go Professor, brough 'im like you asked, black gave me his bike said he wouldn't be need'in it anymore" Hagrid croaked out while handing Harry over in a wicker basket.

"Thank you Hagrid, it shouldn't be for long we will leave him with his aunt for a few days while we get this all sorted and then we will come back and get him. He'll be safe here Hagrid don't worry." With that he popped a note in Harry's basket and cast some spells Harry didn't recognise and left him by the door step. After that Harry had felt the irresistible urge to sleep leaving no more to the memory.

Sorting that memory was no small task, not only had he had to live thought it from his own prospective again but when it came to filing away his feelings about his mother and father in that moment it was so very difficult to let go of the look on his mother's face or his father's caring for him, even if only for the time it took to sort the memory.

The herculean task of stripping the emotions from that one moment in his life to file away took nearly the whole night. When he came round from his meditation the sun was already up on a new day, it was however the best nights rest he had ever had back in his cupboard his nights had been plagued with the nightmares of green light every so often and at Hogwarts he had been sorting the emotionally challenging memories for so long now. This morning was different he woke feeling so refreshed and light he felt like he could run a marathon he was so fresh.

Today being Sunday Harry decided he would follow up on last night's thought and give professor McGonagall a visit. The conversation started off quite awkwardly with Harry knocking on her class room door and finding her not in the room before knocking on her office at the other end of the class. He decided there was no need to beat around the bush and leapt right in with the meat of the conversation.

"Professor, did you know my parents before they died?" Harry asked a bit quicker than he intended not realising how nervous he actually was about asking it.

With his question McGonagall immediately stopped marking her students work and looked up from her desk giving Harry her full attention.

"Yes Harry I did" she said with her eyes full of sympathy.

"I was wondering if you could tell me something about them, I don't really know anything about them other than what the Dursleys told me and I have reason to suspect that isn't true?" Harry asked taking a seat in front of the professor's desk.

"I knew James better than your mother, I suppose you've already been told this but you look very like your father, if not for your scar and your eyes you could be mistaken for each other as easily as the Weasley twins. In fact your farther and his little band of friends were very much like the Weasley twins, without the habit of finishing each other sentences of course." McGonagall said eliciting a smile from Harry.

"James was something of an artist with his transfigurations soon after second year it was clear he would do very well on his exams in transfiguration, at least assuming he could hold back on the pranks. He was very good at pulling pranks mind, he very rarely got caught and even then it was very difficult to prove it was him or his friends." McGonagall said with a wistful smile and a far off look on her face.

"Once in fourth year your father and his companions somehow managed to co-opt the Hogwarts house-elves into pranking the entire school during the Halloween feast." She paused here waiting for Harry to ask for more purposefully building suspense.

"What did they do?" Harry asked hanging on every word she said.

"Well your father and his friends had recently spent a large amount of time over the summer in the muggle world and each of them being wizard raised had not experienced a lot of muggle holidays. Well apparently they discovered a store selling costumes for early for Halloween, eventually it lead to them deciding we should all celebrate it the muggle way that year. I never did find out just how they did it but they managed to have all the students and staff dressed in different costumes with runes to create appropriate effects for props. It was a wonderful bit of chaos and it defiantly cheered everyone up." McGonagall said, Harry was now openly laughing, making his professor smile.

After calming down some Harry decided it was time to ask the question that had been on his mind now for some time since even before he came to Hogwarts really.

"why did none of them come to see me at the Dursleys if they were such good friends of my dad, are they all dead or something?" he asked almost on the verge of tears remembering some of the times he had been locked in his cupboard when he was younger and wished for such a thing.

McGonagall give him a look of deep sympathy before answering him.

"no Harry they aren't all dead, its quite complicated I will have to tell you the exact circumstances around your parents death do you think you can manage to hear that?" she asked slowly making eye contact with Harry to see if he was ready, she received a nod in return.

"As you know we were in a state of civil war. What that doesn't tell you is what it was really like you wouldn't know where your friends loyalties lie who had just been saying the words to the status-quo or who really believed it, sometimes even your own family couldn't be trusted, it was a volatile time. So as you can imagine trust was a rare thing to come across in those times your father and his friends fought for muggleborn rights against the pureblood agenda, there were other factions of course but they mainly aligned themselves with one of the two main groups. They did well too; they came to fight 'He-who-must-not-be-named" directly on multiple occasions."

"Eventually we learned he was targeting your parents, weather from the humiliation of being pushed back or just because they stood out I don't know. They had recently just had you and didn't want to have you caught in the spell fire so they decided to hide. They used an incredibly powerful and ancient charm to hide the fidelius charm, the idea being that information is kept in the soul of a secret keeper and as long as they refuse to speak it the kept secret would be all but invisible to those not in the know."

"This is where it will get hard to hear Harry if you want me to stop just say so." McGonagall said testing to see if Harry was still ok.

"Its ok professor I need to hear this." He replied.

"As I said trust was a hard thing to come by and any little thing would make it hard to trust even your longest standing friends. One of your father's friends was a werewolf and the werewolf packs had sided with the pureblood agenda. Now that's not to say your father's friend was part of them or that he had joined only that if he was he would be in the perfect position to be a spy, it casts a certain kind of doubt on a person when they are in that position weather you mean to or not." She said seeing Harry nod understanding what was said.

"So that left him with two other friends Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Peter was always weaker than the others so your family choose Sirius to hide the secret. Less than two months later 'He-who-must-not-be-named' came to your family's home and killed your parents. Not knowing who to trust in the magical world even with the dark lord dead Dumbledore believed it best you be hidden with your relatives until we could find someone suitable for you."

"The biggest problem with that is two days later Peter tracked down Black and fought him in the streets of London. It didn't go well all the ever found of peter was a finger. When the aurors got to the scene black was laughing like a mad man." She paused here to shake her head and give Harry time to process what he had heard.

"So you can see with one in prison for murdering another and the last a werewolf none of them were in a position to look after you. Your mother's friends are similarly indisposed." She said.

"How?" Harry asked only trusting himself to say the one word not wanting to snap at McGonagall with as angry as he was right then.

"I was never as close with your mother as I was your father but I understand that she lost touch with many of her friends after school with several of her muggleborn friends fleeing the country to avoid the war and her only pureblood friend Alice was tortured into insanity a few days after your parent's demise." McGonagall replied.

"Thank you professor I needed to know. Is there anything left of them a photo or something, it's just I don't have anything to remember them by?" Harry asked.

"You'll have to ask Albus what happened to their belongings I know he dealt with that but I'm sure I can find you some photos. I'll have a look around and see if I can't find some for you before the holidays." She said with a smile.

"Thank you professor, it means a lot, is there anyone who can tell me more about my mother then?" he asked.

"I know Professor Snape was somewhat friendly with her when they began school but they had something of a fight and as far as I am aware never spoke again, so I wouldn't suggest bringing up the subject with him. Professor Flitwick used to rave about her skill in his class during the staff meetings to perhaps he might have something he could tell you. But beyond that I'm sorry I couldn't help more." McGonagall said.

"No its ok you've been more than helpful thanks." Harry said getting up to leave. He was definitely glad it was a weekend as he now had several things added to his to-do list mainly being speak to Flitwick and wright a letter to Dumbledore to find out what happened to his parents belongings.

After a discussion with Flitwick about his mother in which he learned very little other than his mother had a gift for charms and was always very polite Harry decided it was time to write Dumbledore.

_Dear Albus Dumbledore_

_ I am writing to ask you of my parents and their belongings. I am given to understand that while there was some property damage the night of their murder it was not total. I have been told that you managed the situation and took care of my parent's estate after their deaths. I was hoping that it would be possible to find out exactly what happened to their belongings and perhaps get something physical to remember them by._

_ On a much happier note I've made substantial progress with my occlumency and I believe I did well on my exams as a result. I understand what you mean now it's not that it provides edict memory but like you said it substantially improves the ease of remembering the information about a topic._

_I was very interested in your offer to teach me some sorcery, it sounds very interesting. Would it be helpful with things like curse braking (a carrier I'm thinking of going into) or would wards interfere with its effectiveness._

_Sincerely _

_Harry_

Having sent the letter of with Archimedes Harry felt it was time to relax, it had been a trying and emotional day after all. Finding Neville they went to sit under a tree and enjoy the summer heat while it lasted, Hermione had refused to leave the library saying that she wanted to read all she could before she had to leave for the summer.

A.N. I've drawn attention to the differences between tom and Harry's first year here the key being their integration with others tom being a loner and unable to immediately take command of his housemates as he had his co-orphans another thing I want to draw your attention to is tom and Harry's different approach to their wandless magic's Harry has kept working with it and tom delved into more powerful magic rather than concentrate on his currently learned stuff I also felt Rowling downgraded tom from a skilled young wizard to an intimidating monster as opposed to the skilled villain he could have been at least after we learned of his past. Also just to be clear Harry hasn't figured out tom=Voldemort

A.N. I wanted to make it clear there really was no ritual at work here only that Voldemort really did intend to keep his bargain with Snape and had not came to Godric's hollow with the intention of killing lily that being the case her life never being in jeopardy when he arrived her offer had weight were every other family that he had personally killed there not being a lot the he had PERONSALY killed had all been intended to be victims so the offering up of a life for a life was meaningless as they had been a target before the offer hence why no other mother had been able to save her son like lily had. Also cannon Harry remembers that night if only sub consciously with his dream in book 1 involving Hagrid and the green light.

A.N. I'm given the adults a bit of credit here in how they talk to Harry when he was a baby they are more apologising to themselves than Harry but it's not uncommon

A.N. McGonagall never mentions knowing the prophecy so I'm keeping it that way

A.N. hp lexicon says potters died at 21


	16. That Other One Ring

**Chapter 16 – That Other One Ring.**

When the Hogwarts express arrived at the station it was after a long journey in witch Harry spent the journey with Hermione and Neville. It was somewhat nice to see Hermione without a book in her hand, after the last week in which she spent entirely in the library. Hermione was very much looking forward to getting home, she had quite missed her parent's and the comfort of modern electronics while at Hogwarts since the winter holidays.

Neville was a bit down because despite the school year being over his gran wouldn't be returning home another few days having to wrap up several issues at the school, meaning he would be being "looked after" by his uncle, the same one that dropped him out of a window. He had tried to distract himself with a few games of exploding snap with the others but had been mostly unsuccessful.

Harry however was the most down it had only just dawned on him what returning from Hogwarts would mean. No longer would he have a nice four poster bed to sleep in, it would be back to the cupboard under the stairs and the camp bed there in. it wasn't all bad though he would be able to go back to being ignored by most people instead of the fame he had in Hogwarts.

Hermione spotted her parents first and dragged Harry and Neville to meet them, almost more excited than Harry had ever seen her.

"Mum, dad this is Harry and Neville, remember I told you about my friends at Christmas." Hermione said with incredible speed.

"Yes, I remember something about that, what was it dear I vaguely remember her saying something about her new friends." Her mother said to her husband.

"Now that you mention it, it does ring a bell. But that can't be right I'm sure Hermione didn't say anything about them during Christmas." Her father joked eliciting a blush from Hermione.

"Henry Granger, you must be Harry and Neville Hermione has told us so little about you." Henry said extending his hand for the boys to shake and making Hermione blush further.

"Behave Henry. I'm Janet Hermione's mum, we have to go now or we will miss the train home. Once things settle down perhaps you would like to come for tea one day this summer? Hermione say bye we have to go." Janet said.

With that Hermione gave both Neville and Harry back braking hugs before rushing off after her parents.

Neville's uncle was much less friendly, barely giving Harry the slightest sign of recognition before telling Neville it was time to go and apparating away with him. That suited Harry fine left along he could teleport himself back to the Dursley's unseen given that it was very unlikely that they had come to pick him up, if they even remembered he existed at all anymore.

The following day at Hogwarts one of the things Neville's gran had to deal with was the end of year staff meeting. It was something of a strange staff meeting while previously this staff meeting would have been used to discuss students that have excelled throughout the year or those in need of a little extra help next year. This time it was being used to discuss the change in curriculum and how it was affecting both students and staff, so far the general consensus had been that it was generally positive.

"Now let's move on to other matters please, I understand with Binns having found peace there will be no need to deal with that situation. It does leave us with a position available for next year; before I put an ad in the profit does anyone have any suggestions as to who might be available for the role?" Augusta asked.

"I would have suggested Bagshot, but I got a letter from her recently and she isn't doing quite as well as she used to anymore." McGonagall said.

"Hmmm, what about Emmeline Vance she did very well on her History N.E.W.T. several years back and I haven't heard anything about her doing anything with it besides the usual business with the wizengamot." Professor Vector, the arithmency teacher said.

"Very well I will contact her once this meeting concludes and see if she is interested in the post. Now I am aware of the practice of divination to not teach students the trance necessary to properly see in the hopes of rooting out prophets and it is time that came to an end. I am aware you burn the incense in the classroom to help guide the students into a state where they would be capable of seeing Sibyll but simply put its not enough. Even if the students are capable of seeing while in your class without know how to enter the trance what they learn there will be next to useless to them in the real world. I will allow you one term at the start of third year to find anyone with the true sight before you must teach the trance to the class." Augusta said cutting off Sibyll every time she attempted to interrupt.

"Now is there anything else anyone wants to bring up?" headmistress Augusta said.

"I wish to talk about Potter's ability with wandless magic." Moody said.

"Very well, what about it." The headmistress said.

"I know he couldn't teach Minerva or me but I was thinking perhaps he could teach some of the other students like he did with your grandson and Granger." Moody said.

"I will ask him but it is not something I want to pressure him into, it's one thing to try to teach an adult but it's quite another to ask him to teach a class full of students." The headmistress said.

"I suppose that will have to do." Moody grumbled.

"Now eelier on in the year we discussed ritual language learning as an introduction to both rituals and runes. I have since been in touch with Barty Crouch and he has agreed to assist with his vast array of languages from his time as head of the D.I.M.C. as long as we can time it so as to be after his regular office hours." Augusta said.

"Excellent I was wondering who we would get or if we would have to get different people for different languages" Professor Sinistra said.

Much of the rest of the meeting was the usual business for running a school, reports on students, supplies used, repairs need and other things of a similar nature. It was late into the evening before Headmistress Augusta wrapped up the meeting to retire to her office to pen several letters, one to Harry another to Emmeline Vance and several others to the parents of various students for one reason or another.

Harry had plans for summer or at least the start of it he wanted to visit the home of the Guants to see if tom riddle had left anything there when he had disappeared in forty-seven. The surprise though had been waking up to Fawkes perched on his chest the first day back from school. It had resulted in him hitting his head on the underside of the stairs as the phoenix disappeared into a pool of flame, fortunately not setting anything on fire.

The letter the Fawkes left behind was from Dumbledore answered little but promised more soon which Harry supposed would have to do.

_Dear Harry_

_ First let me say how pleased I am that you are doing well in your school work and that your practice with occlumency is almost advanced enough to begin the final stage. I am delighted you have a goal in mind for a future occupation it makes things much clearer when it comes time to take your options for third year. While I don't want to give you too much information on sorcery just yet as it will only confuse you trying to learn two completely different branches of magic at once I will say it would be very useful in the area of curse braking._

_ I am sorry to say I never considered your lack of anything to remember your parents by. I will endeavour to rectify the situation as such I am free this weekend if you wish I can come and collect you to hopefully discuss this and more. How does Saturday at 2pm sound, please respond as soon as you can so I may plan around this._

_Sincerely_

_Albus Dumbledore._

Harry would have to reply to it as soon as he had finished making breakfast for the Dursleys. It was amazing how fast they slipped back into having Harry do much of their menial labour around the house, last night petunia hadn't cooked tea waiting for Harry to do it. He supposed it was the price he paid for the living space they begrudged him here, at least they didn't bother him once his chores where done.

After penning a short response of only a few words Harry went out to the back garden where Archimedes had set himself up a perch on the tree overhanging that garden. When he got there he was surprised to see another owl with another letter so he attached his note to Archie and approached the other.

"Stay" he said firmly looking the bird in the eyes, taking the letter attached to his legs, not that it did him much good the bird flew off just as soon as Harry took the letter. The letter was a request from the headmistress to try to teach other students next year how to use wandless magic.

The idea wasn't something he really wanted to do, with his failure to get the teachers to learn the skill he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of whoever the teachers lined up for the class. But then maybe he could have a teacher observe and then take over after he had shown them assuming he could get the students to learn, all in all it sounded like it was going to be a massive headache.

'I'll write when I get back, I have other things I want to do today and if I don't set off soon I won't get there on time.' Were Harry's thoughts on the letter as he put the note in his pocket before setting off for the bus station in town.

Six busses and eighteen quid later Harry arrived at Greater Hangleton, it was only a short fifteen minute walk to the 'smaller' village of Little Hangleton, the difference being the lack of a bus stop in the latter.

Walking down the side of the small B-road from Greater, to Little Hangleton Harry was able to enjoy the summer sun properly for the first time outside of Hogwarts without having to worry about his family or the garden or whatever else they had wanted him to do this time, it was quite refreshing. Surry was a nice place but compared to the scenery today it seemed entirely too ordered and neat. That's not to say Hogwarts wasn't a nice place too but it's hard to enjoy in the cold of the Scottish highlands.

The first sign of the approaching village was a clearly previously grand manor house on a hill, that now stood quite dilapidated. As he got closer Harry could make out more detail from the large house an odd thought struck him. With as house proud as Petunia is she probably thinks her own home is as grand as this one used to be, it certainly kept him amused for the rest of the journey to the village.

Eventually he spotted what he had come for; he almost missed it entirely, if it hadn't been for a gap in the overgrown hedge that he was walking along, where a gate might have once stood. Pushing aside the hedge as he stepped through the gap into a clearing with the house. If you could call the small one floor building a house, in the centre trees and over grown grass was surrounding it.

Harry approached the hovel along the last vestiges of what could once have been a stone path though now looked like a broken line of flat stones with patches of moss and grass showing. As he got closer he could see that despite its look the house was being protected by something the moss that had covered several stones around the house stopped abruptly at a line just before the brick of the wall.

He hadn't really been sure what to expect here with Tom's disappearance in forty-seven and Morfin's incarceration and subsequent death in forty-three and fifty-two. He thought maybe that would be some kind of clue as to where Tom had gone or where the stone might be that others who hadn't joined the clues he had wouldn't spot. Now he was here he thought both ideas where a bit stupid the dark atmosphere of the small clearing certainly didn't help.

Harry hadn't known it but he had just past the ward line for this building, had he been a magical creature or attempted to use magic to travel now he wouldn't like the consequences.

As he approached the door the most obvious fact about it was the clearly long dead snake nailed to it with a knife at the height you would normally expect to find a knocker. He tried to ignore the snake as he knocked on the door feeling a bit foolish.

Much to his shock the previously dead snake on the door moved its head and looked at Harry and spoke.

"Who are you and what do you want?" It hissed out.

"Err I'm Harry potter and I'm looking for something if that's ok" Harry replied still shocked that what he thought was a dead snake was now talking to him.

"You speak but from what line do you come from?" it asked.

"As far as I know I'm the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin if that's what you mean." Harry said confused as to why the snake stuck to the door would care.

"Enter young master" it said as the door slowly swung open with an eerily groaning creak.

Inside the hovel Harry could barely make out basin in the middle of room and even then he could only make that out because of eerily green glow coming from its contents. The rest of the room was dimly lit from the small amounts of light that managed to penetrate both the canopy of the trees and the dust caked onto the windows.

The first thought that came to Harrys mind when seeing this was trap. The whole room practically screamed trap, the unnatural darkness, the eerie green glow from the basin on a pedestal in the centre of the room, the fact that it was the only thing in the room. Still even suspecting highly that it was a trap it now had his curiosity if this was a trap what was the bait and where was the hook.

He stepped into the room; even giving his eyes time to adjust from the difference in light levels didn't seem to help it was still too dark to make out any details in the corners of the room. Taking out his wand Harry stepped closer to centre of the room and the illuminated pedestal. Once closer he could see that the light was coming from a liquid that was bubbling and steaming from inside the stone basin.

Not wanting to get too close the thought that this was somehow a trap of some kind Harry peered into the viscous green liquid and could just make out a gold ring submerged within.

"The bait, so the liquid must be the hook." he thought.

Really not wanting to touch this liquid that strongly reminded him of an acid or something from a movie he looked around for something to try and hook the ring with. Unfortunately the room being as dark as it was didn't help nor did the fact that the only thing in the room was the basin before him. Not really wanting to put his wand in the liquid either he thought it best to get a stick from outside the idea to use magic to retrieve the ring never even entering his head.

Back in front of the pedestal stick in hand Harry went about trying to fish the ring out of the acid. However his suspicions had been correct and it was an acid a highly corrosive one if its effect on the stick was anything to go by. No sooner had the stick entered the green liquid did the end start viciously steaming and dissolving into the acid. Harry threw the stick away not wanting to get acid that was now climbing the stick on his clothes. The acid made quick work of the stick leaving just a damp patch of dust where the stick had landed.

The acid being as dangerous as it was hadn't eaten through the stone basin or the gold ring nor had it evaporated with all the steam it was giving off, so something must be producing more of it. Being as fast acting as it was and the fact that it spread against gravity up the stick Harry had put in to try and get the ring he didn't think knocking the bowl off the stand was a good idea.

The only thing in the room was the basin with the ring and acid in the only other thing Harry could see was the still moving snake nailed to the door and the dagger with witch it was nailed. It being the only thing moving, the snake was constantly drawing Harry's attention while he was trying to figure out the trap.

Harry tried to put himself in the mind of whoever had designed this trap. Whoever had built it must have left a way to retrieve the ring, otherwise why not simply destroy it or bury it in some remote location. He didn't know much about whoever had set this all up but must have been a parslemouth, evidenced by the snake granting him entry. It could have been Tom before his disappearance.

'Ok so I'm the person who hid this ring and set this trap' Harry thought

'I want to leave myself and only myself a way to retrieve it, I can speak parseltongue and that's a very rare thing apparently. But I've already set a trap with that but others could have bypassed that with destructive magic I suppose. How else do I make sure only I can retrieve my treasure. With a pot of acid of course urgh this isn't helping.'

'Ok so I have a pot of acid that creeps up anything it touches until it has dissolved it all, an unmoveable stone pedestal, a snake nailed to the door with a knife. I must have to do something with the snake or the knife, unless it's some sort of magic I just don't know yet urgh this was such a bad idea' Harry thought.

Examining the knife holding the snake closer Harry could make out a snake motif on the pommel of the handle but beyond that it seemed a fairly standard looking dagger to Harry's not expert eyes. Though when he did look closer the snake seemed to take much more interest in him than before.

"Are you going to free me young master?" it asked.

"I don't know, am I supposed to?" he asked

"I don't know, are you?" it replied, giving Harry the distinct impression that even though it was nailed to a door it was enjoying making fun of its possible saviour.

Getting frustrated with the snake Harry grabbed for the knife to free it from the door. However upon nearing the hilt the snake snapped out and tried to bite Harry, it missed but only because Harry withdrew his hand with such speed as to nearly hurt his shoulder.

"What was that for?" Harry angrily demanded of the snake.

"T-the dagger, it requires… blood to be… freed from the d-door" the snake said as though it was trying to resist answering, giving Harry an idea.

"When I free you, you will retrieve the ring for me and then you can go free." Harry demanded of the snake.

"Y-yes m-master." It hissed out again clearly trying not to.

Not truly trusting the snake Harry didn't want to let it bite him not knowing if it was venomous, nor did he think it wouldn't if he tried to use the dagger. Harry cut his hand on a jagged bit of brick from the side of the hovel; it was only a small cut so he had to squeeze it to get the blood to drop on the daggers handle. As the first drop of his blood hit the handle it began to twist and writhe as it deformed itself into the snake it was holding up, becoming part of it, and dropping to the floor.

With its release the snake now robotically slithered towards the column holding up the basin of acid and climbed it coiling its self-round it as it did. From the opposite side of the basin of acid the snake submerged itself in the acid and swiftly re-emerged on the close side, seemingly without ill effect. It wasn't until it reached the floor Harry noticed that its tail, which the snake had used to retrieve the ring, had started turning black.

It was a rapid and unpleasant process, at least as far as Harry could tell. The snake that had been fairly vocal before was now hissing in non-sensible syllables and writhing in apparent agony. First the scales on the tail had turned black then they had started to flake off leaving an exposed layer of acid green scales that quickly turned brown then black as the spell worked its foul magic. As quickly as it was eating through the layers of the snakes scales it was also working its way up the body of the serpent. It wasn't long before there was no longer a tip at the end of the snake only a flaky dead husk like a burned cigar put out too forcefully.

Harry could do nothing but watch horrified as the snake tried anything from scraping its body along wall to curling up on itself to dull the pain. The spell was obviously meant to make whatever took the ring to suffer before it died because even after more than half of the snake was consumed it didn't die.

It took a whole ten minutes of writhing before the snake died and Harry honestly couldn't feel worse about it. At first he had meant to punish the snake for being so snarky with him, when it robotically approached the pedestal he had felt bad about it and hope it would survive the acid. He had been quite relived to see it emerge from the other side seemingly well. When he saw the black taint to the end of its tail he had been concerned, but when it started to writhe and hiss he had been too shocked that he had caused this to happen to move let alone intervene. By the time he was lucid again it was too late already, the curse had eaten a full third of the snake. All he could do for it by then was watch every moment as the curse claimed its victim as if it was some sort of morbid penance.

As the curse consumed the tip of the snakes forked tongue the dagger that was holding it to the door faded back into existence with a clang as it hit the wooden floor. the noise in the now eerily quiet cabin shook Harry into action almost without thinking Harry tore part of his old jumper and picked up the ring with it wrapping it tightly in the strip of wool that Aunt Marge had once knit for his cousin Dudley. With that he decided it was time to get out of this place.

No sooner had he reached the road outside the small country wall where he had first entered the property, did he come to the sudden realisation along with the shedding of the claustrophobic feeling he hadn't realised he was feeling. What had he been thinking, why had he done that, it was positively insane, not only had he spotted this trap and recognised it was a trap, but he thought himself smarter than whoever had set it. There could have been any number of ways he could have died, for all he knew there could have been magically concealed land mines or the roof could have slowly descended upon him, like in an Indiana Jones movie. With this realisation he started breathing heavily, taking deep lung-full s of air, almost retching.

It had only been luck that whoever had designed the trap had made the mistake of assuming no one else could speak parseltongue that had allowed him to live. But that was another problem why hadn't he left when he had realised it was a trap, why hadn't he used magic, if nothing else a lumos would have been helpful to see around the room properly. Looking back at the clearing from which he had just come, the darkness and spooky feel the area had just wasn't there.

It was only a small leap of intuition that something had been effecting his perceptions and maybe even his decision making while he had been inside the bounds of the property. Whatever it was though had been subtle. That was probably what had made him persist at getting the ring even though all he had come here for was to talk to see if Tom had moved in here after his uncle's death and see if he knew anything of the stone.

After he calmed down sitting against the stone wall at the side of the field opposite the hut he had just exited he decided to take a look at the ring. Taking the skewed up piece of wool from his pocked and unwrapping it, there in the middle was his prize. A ring, the band was a dull gold with no markings on it. But set in the place you would normally expect to find a gemstone was a flat round circular pebble with markings on it. The marks were a triangle with a circle inside all bisected by a line.

He didn't know how long he sat there examining his new found treasure but it wasn't until he was shocked out of his reverence by a passer-by did he look up.

"You all right there lad?" said a man leaning out of the window of his car.

"Huh, yea sorry, I'm fine just taking a break." Harry said trying to make it seem like he had just been out for a walk in the country, while quickly wrapping up his prize and shoving it in his pocket.

"fair enough, best be getting on now though it's going to rain soon and you don't wanna' be caught in that" the stranger said motioning to the coming rain clouds in the sky.

"Will do, thanks." Harry replied as the man drove off in his beat up four by four, clearly well used to country use from the speckles of mud on the side. Once the car was out of sight he teleported back to the Dursley's back yard.

A.N. Harry's uncertainty as he gets to the gaunt shack is the first defence of the horcrux if it isn't clear it's a very subtle but powerful (enough to affect even an occluded mind) seed of doubt ward similar to a muggle repelling ward as described in the books but works on wizards on more difficult side of wards because of the subtlety required. The snake on the door is a parsle ward the way I envision magic to work is when feeling out a ward they feel different when cast in each language and without understanding the language it's impossible to entirely certain of what the ward would do entirely especially in the case of traps with the snake I would imagine Dumbledore to have attempted to disarm the trap that triggered a secondary trap intended to make Dumbledore heavily desire the object in the basin, being already something he desired made him extra susceptible to the ward he hadn't realised he had triggered

A.N. I didn't have Harry use magic to use the ring not because it was convenient for the trap, had he tried it would simply not have work I did it to show that he simply doesn't think of magic as his first option for everything at least in this case. The snake guarding the door had no choice but to answer Harry when asked direct questions but could lay with the truth if it could think of a way to do so. I also want to say that blood magic is much less precise at distinguishing between members of a family than people suppose in my story at least though it is powerful.

A.N. I wanted to imply Harry stared at the ring for quite some time at the side of the road as if it had a power of its own to enrapture similar to the one ring.

A.N. fascinatingly poisonous /= venomous


	17. Broken Families and Lucid Law

Chapter 17 – Broken Families and Lucid Law

It was a few days after his outing to find his new ring of incredible danger that Albus Dumbledore turned up to make good on his promise. In that time Harry had deduced that the stone on the top of the ring was probably The Resurrection Stone, after all who puts an ordinary stone into a gem setting for a ring.

He had problems though his initial investigation of the ring had shown him that whatever curse was on the ring it only extended as far as things passing through it, touching the band was ok, not that he had risked it only using twigs to check. That wasn't the only thing either, he had also found that despite gold being a relatively malleable metal there was absolutely no give in the gem setting and the stone could not be pried from its home. He had gone so far as to use pliers and had even tried warming it in the Dursleys fire to see if it would work if it was softer, but he had had no luck. In the end he had given up for now assuming the ring had some sort of protective magic making it impossible to brake without knowing more.

This had left him with another problem entirely, what to do with the ring now. He didn't really want to take it to a professional curse breaker, what if someone recognised the stone set in it or they might on some far out off chance have known its previous owner and question why he had it in the first place. No all in all Harry felt the safest thing to do was to bury it in his trunk in one of his aunts old disused ring boxes where it would be safe.

He wasn't even sure he could ask about it either, he wasn't stupid he understood this stone if it is indeed The Resurrection Stone is a powerful artefact and others would be after it too. He could he ask who would know enough to be helpful but that he could trust not to tell anyone what he had. In the end he decided that it was best to make quiet enquires under the pretence of looking for information regarding his possible future career of curse breaker.

Dumbledore's arrival was an interesting affair to say the least Petunia who normally ignore anything strange or magical as part of his aura of ignore reacted much stronger than he expected.

"You!" Petunia almost shouted with a fury Harry had never seen her exhibit, even when he had been too young and inexperienced to have her ignore his magic.

"Ah, Petunia how is you? is Harry home I was hoping to take him for an outing today." Dumbledore said as if he hadn't heard the anger in her voice.

"That's it, Ten years after my sister dies and you leave my nephew on the doorstep with a note asking me to look after him for a while and you don't even have the decency to apologise. Where was my invitation to her funeral? Where was my explanation as to what happened? But most importantly where the fuck where you when a little while became several years?" Petunia asked, her voice getting ever louder, as she vented all the grief of losing her sister all those years ago. Drawing the attention of her husband who had now appeared in the hall behind her.

"Come on pet, go have a sit down in the living room and I'll deal with this. Then I'll make you a nice cup of tea, how's that sound?" Vernon Dursley said putting his arm around his wife, showing an uncharacteristic show of caring as he turned her to the living room he had just vacated.

"Right, now who are you and how dare you upset my wife?" Vernon said rounding on Dumbledore now that Petunia had left the hall.

"I'm Albus Dumbledore, I must say I am terribly sorry for the trouble I have inadvertently caused, and I assure you I did not intend to upset your wife or bring up painful memories. When I left Harry here it was only ever meant to be a temporary solution, unfortunately it proved to be the only one available even now. I must also apologise for not informing your family of Llly's death in a more civilised manner, time was pressed and unfortunately the organisation of the Potter's funeral was left to the ministry and I am afraid they simply didn't consider muggles worth the effort. Sorry." Albus said having had time to think over his response as Vernon had directed Petunia.

"Grmm, what are you here for now then?" Vernon said still blocking the doorway making himself appear intimidating now he knew that he was speaking to a wizard.

"Ah yes I had arranged with Harry for an outing today I was hoping to pick him up." Dumbledore said.

"Boy!" Vernon yelled into the bowels of the house.

"What?" Harry shouted his voice coming from the back garden.

"The Door for you, hurry up." Vernon shouted before returning to his post barring entry to Albus.

"Ok bye, come on lets go." Harry said all at once as he barrelled down the hallway and slipped in a gap his uncle didn't realise he had left.

"Once again I am truly sorry for upsetting your wife pass on my sincerest apologies." Dumbledore said before joining Harry who was already waiting by the curb. Taking Harry's hand he disapperated.

"Whoa, that was uncomfortable, it's never like that when I do it." Harry said.

"Really, I flatter myself to say I'm more than a little proficient at appertain and am among the most smooth at it too." Dumbledore said a little surprised.

"what, when I do it there's no squeezing or anything like that just a sharp burst of wind, or at least that's what it feels like." Harry replied.

"Interesting would you mind demonstrating, perhaps apperate us to the church yard over there." Dumbledore said, making Harry aware of his new surroundings for the first time.

It looked to be a small village the roads weren't the neat kind you see in towns and cities, they were the less defined and less maintained roads of the the direction Albus had pointed Harry could see a small chapel, nothing grand barely bigger than a fully detached house with only a small belfry. Behind it was a clearly visible stone wall sectioning off what could only be its graveyard.

"Er ok sure but where are we?" he asked.

"We are in the village of Godric's Hollow, the place of your parents' home and their final resting place." Albus answered.

"Oh" Harry said a little stumped at that. Taking Albus's hand he teleported to the gate of the graveyard.

"Hrmm, you're right that is definitely a more pleasant sensation, I wonder what you're doing differently. Anyway that's a mystery for another time I guess. Now in here are your parent's grave stones." Albus said opening the short metal gate in front of them.

With Dumbledore's direction it didn't take long for Harry to find his parents grave. The stone was a whitish grey it was a wide grave both of his parents buried together. Despite the church looking a little urn down the grave yard seemed to be well kept there being no moss growing on any of the nearby graves as far as Harry could tell.

Harry wasn't sure how long he stood there staring at his parents grave taking in every last detail, but when he turned to tell Albus he was ready to leave he found himself alone. At least he thought he was till he spotted the ex-headmaster in a different part of the churchyard. He approached but didn't go right up to Albus leaving him to mourn whoever's grave he was attending.

Shortly after Harry had approached Albus turned and joined him to leave the churchyard.

"Do you mind if I ask who you where visiting sir?" Harry asked quietly his curiosity getting the better of his asking what he knew to be rude.

"My sister Harry, my sister" Albus said.

"oh." Harry said totally ending the conversation dead.

They passed the village pub, The Red Lion, something Harry found amusing, one in every town in the country no matter how small. A little further past the few local shops the village had Harry spotted what Albus was leading him towards. There at the end of the street was a house with what looked like a quarter of it burnt away showing the joists that had survived in the roof.

"Is that?" Harry said unable to finish his question looking at the half husk of a home that once was.

"Yes Harry, this used to be the home of the Potter family before it was attacked." Albus said letting Harry acclimatise to the view before him.

The house its self must once have comfortably housed seven or eight before its destruction and that was only judging by the front Harry had no idea how far back it went. It was clearly old the bricks looking a grey white rather than the red of more modern buildings, the wall surrounding it was that typical of the English countryside, the ever present stone walls built in some bygone age just about everywhere in the county.

Spotting a plaque on the wall that looked very out of place Harry slowly approached to read it.

_On this site in 1981 a family was murdered._

_In death they brought the downfall of the Dark Lord Voldemort._

_It had been left in its ruined state as a monument to the family,_

_As a reminder that sometimes even the least of us can bring about great change._

Looking up from the sign, Harry looked to Albus to speak.

"Can I go inside?" he asked his voice full of the anguish he felt, the message on the wall had been right a family had been murdered here, he might have survived but what family he had now certainly wasn't what he would have wanted.

"Of course." Albus said opening the gate and extending his arm directing Harry to proceed.

They walked around the house in pregnant silence nether saying anything while Harry took in his surroundings. They went room by room some had been gutted of the things that should have been there like the study the few bookshelves' that lined the back wall were all empty. The kitchen too had been cleaned out though Harry suspected it was a different reason to the study's. Some rooms like the living room were Harry remembered seeing his father for the last time was exactly as he remembered it being left.

Upstairs was a different story, after Voldemort's attack there had clearly been a fire. You could see evidence of it all the way to the banister at the top of the stairs. Almost every door of the upstairs hub was marred by burn marks of some kind, non-more so than what he suspected was his old room.

Standing at the doorway, there was no door; Harry looked into what was his old room. Patches of the wallpaper could be made out; it was blue with pictures of wizard caps and stars adorning it. What stood out most though was burnt framework of his old crib; it was almost the only furniture in the room apart from an also burnt rocking chair.

"I need to get out of here." Harry said suddenly, feeling more overwhelmed by emotion than he could bear. Taking Harry's hand, Dumbledore disapperated from the scene of destruction.

Harry hadn't been aware of his surroundings, that he had sat down, or even that Albus had left him alone, at least not until he returned.

"Here, drink this." Albus said handing Harry a steaming mug tea.

"Er, thanks." Harry said taking a sip and looking round the room for the first time since he had arrived.

He was sat in a very soft armchair of the kind he might expect to find in Aunt Marge's house. Around the walls were unmoving photos of a family he wouldn't have recognised had he not seen a much younger Albus Dumbledore in one of them. Realising he was looking at Albus's family on the walls he was able to recognise several things.

First his father wasn't featured in many of the family shots and none after he was about ten. Second the mother was featured in relatively few photos too and not in his Hogwarts graduation photo like his brother and sister. Third that was both the last photo of the sister and the last photo of the brothers together, there were several others on the wall of the aged pair but Albus now had a crooked nose not present on his graduation photo and his brother never smiled in any of the more recent additions.

Seeing this family on the wall Harry had come to a conclusion, Albus Dumbledore was just as broken if not more so than anyone else he had ever met, perhaps including himself. Most people would look at the graduation photo at pride of place on the mantelpiece and see a great man putting his crowning moment forward. Harry saw a broken man putting forward the last time he was truly whole there for something to remind him of what he had lost and why he had to carry on.

Harry was snapped out of his extrospective moment by Albus talking.

"Feeling better Harry?" he asked.

"Huh, oh yea, thanks for the tea." Harry answered gesturing with his mug.

"Are you ready to hear about your family now?" Albus asked trying to gauge Harry's mental state.

"Yea, I'm fine now it was all just a bit much being there. I only just sorted the memories of that night a week ago" Harry said.

"Really, I don't mean to pry but could you tell me what you saw from your perspective, if it's not too painful?" Albus asked with interest.

"There's not all that much really, just my mum and dad talking then running and shouting. Then my mother begging for my life, her eyes and then a flash of green and pain and nothing much else." Harry said trying to condense it as much as possible to get it over quickly.

"Thank you Harry, I appreciate you sharing that with me." Albus said a little disappointed to not find any clue as to how Harry survived.

"Now I believe you wanted to know what happened to your parents belongings." Albus said after some contemplation, in a different tone changing the entire pace of the conversation.

"yea." Harry replied.

"Here they are." Albus said sweeping his arm to a trunk he had brought in while Harry was drinking his tea.

"Or at least what I was able to retrieve that night before the ministry declared it a monument." He finished as Harry moved to open the trunk.

Looking inside the trunk was an odd experience for Harry. The left side was entirely filled with a block of seemingly miniature books, an odd sight to be sure having never seen miniaturized items like this. The right side, not that it was partitioned just that the books created one, was filled with much more personal items. There was a photo that couldn't have been taken long after he was born with his mother and father with his mum holding him and smiling. There were many photos in the trunk like that, including a shot of their wedding. There were also both of his parent's wands and several bits of what he assumed were his mother's jewellery.

He had stared at the photo of his parents holding him for some time before Albus spoke to get his attention again.

"You may not know but the potters have for some time now owned a small publishing company, it is why you vault at Gringott's is no doubt quite full." Albus said.

"Huh, I wondered where it all came from, thought it was a bit much even if all their possessions and house had been sold after their death." Harry said thinking back to the mounds of gold in his vault and wondering if Beedle the Bard had been the one to start the family business.

"It's still going quite well as I understand." Albus said.

"good." Harry said nodding, not really knowing what to say to that.

"Not to worry Harry you won't be expected to take over its day to day running anytime soon or at all if you don't want to. I don't know who is currently running it now but I know in your father's time it was managed by someone outside your family." Albus said seeing Harry's confusion on his face.

"oh." Harry said with a bit of a smile realising he had been caught out in his worry.

Taking to photo he had been looking at Harry sat back down on his chair.

"You must be nearly finished with the initial stage of occlumency now then if you have progressed to sorting your earliest memories." Albus said starting a more casual conversation with Harry.

"Yea I think I'm nearly done, I know I've started meditating instead of sleeping, I kinda miss dreams though." Harry said.

"They will return in time once you reach the point where you are only organising that days memories" Albus reassured Harry.

"I always 'wake up' with a bad back now though." Harry said making finer quotes around wake up.

"Ah have you tried lying down to meditate." Albus said smiling at Harry's mistake.

"When you say it, it sounds so obvious like I should have been doing it all along; I just never thought to change my position from sitting cross legged." Trying to explain why he wasn't an idiot.

"Most often that is usually the case. The best of idea always seem like they should always have been the case after the fact." Albus said smiling again.

"oh, I wanted to ask if you know any good books for getting me started on curse breaking, I'm going to be going to Diagon Alley soon for school supplies I thought I could pick up some supplementary reading material." Harry said trying to sound a bit smarter after his admission.

"Hrmm, its probably best you have a bit of a grounding in runes first, but there are some books that would be useful regardless, they deal mostly in the dos and don'ts of identifying curses." Albus said flicking his wand and conjuring a quill and parchment to wright a list of books on.

The pair whiled away what little was left of the afternoon in pleasant conversation, before Albus returned Harry to his aunt's home.

One of the first things Harry did when he returned to number four was to search out his aunt. Finding her doing the washing up from their evening meal Harry approached her.

"Aunt Petunia." He spoke to get her attention.

"What?" she asked tersely.

"I have something for you." Harry said holding out a photo of his mother, one of the few where she had been alone.

Turning around Petunia saw the photo, not saying a word she slowly reached out and took it, eyes never leaving the subject. Harry left his aunt looking at the photo returning to how now very cramped living space under the stairs. It would have been worse had he not been able to leave his school trunk and now his family trunk in a corner of unused, during the summer, back living room.

The next few days where important for people other than Harry for him too. He got a new room and his aunt had thanked him for the photo, not much perhaps but better than before.

Inside the very heart of the British magical government, the wizengamot chamber, progress was the word of the day.

It had started like any other meeting with roll call and rejection of bills proposed in last month's session. One of the bills in the however had caused quite a stir at least among some members of the court.

Arthur Weasley's, Misuse of muggle artefacts bill.

Before the session it had been widely viewed as a positive bill, with the protection of muggles from the accidently charmed object or the malicious wizard. Today however had change many minds about the proposed change, and it was a change not a new law altogether.

Previously wizards had to ensure that any object currently used by muggles must have at least a muggle repelling charm or similar disinterest spell attached. This caused a few problems some items not being able to take many spells before they melted or other various effects. As such many openly flouted this restriction, or guideline as there was no punishment for it, and created charmed objects with no disinterest spell at all, often resulting in the object ending up in the hands of a muggle eventually.

Arthur's bill had proposed changing it so that any object currently in common use by muggles cannot be charmed without a licence that must be applied for via the ministry. Those found to be charming objects without a licence would face stiff fines and those charming objects without disinterest spells would face a fine for every object so charmed. Not a big change perhaps but an important one.

The general view before the session was positive for several reasons. First and most importantly it would bring in much needed revenue to the ministry coffers. Second it may very well help reduce spending on obliviators and could even conceivably help muggles stay unaware of the magical world. All this had changed when Lucius Malfoy had got up to oppose the bill

"Before we pass motion on this bill, you have all heard from Arthur on the benefits of, does anyone else wish to speak." Supreme Mugwump Albus Dumbledore said.

"I do." Lucius said.

"Lucius Malfoy has the floor." Dumbledore said.

"Thank you Mugwump Dumbledore." Lucius said stepping into the centre of the large arena styled room.

"This bill is insidious." Lucius paused here for affect.

"It strikes at the very heart of wizarding progress; there is truly no greater threat to innovation than barriers and bureaucracy. This bill is proposing what amounts to a total block on any kind of experimentation." He paused here knowing someone would ask, and very quickly a member of the gathered court did.

"How so?" one member of the court spoke up.

"simply 'any object currently in use by muggles' could range from their automobiles all the way down to clothes or watches anything at all. Let's not forget that our primary modes of transportation, brooms, are in fact still in use by many muggles today. Allowing this bill into law could very well see you each and every one of the British wizarding community fined an unspecified amount for every article of clothing with a warming charm."

"there is no mention of the cost of getting one of these 'licences' or how long they would last, the wording implies it is a per item you charm, you could potentially have to fill out a form for every twig of a broom, each of them being charmed separately these days. How many of you would be willing to do something like that. What about the average member of the public with no knowledge of how the ministry works, to many it's just a faceless building that enforces the law, would their first experience of it be a fine?"

"Not even considering how it is to be enforced, there is no mention in the bill at all of how these objects are supposed to be detected. For all intents and purposes an auror could very well turn up at any door with a search warrant for charmed 'muggle' objects and seizes every object in your home, fine you for it and leave you destitute, after all how many of us have self-cleaning plates or candles that never need replacing?" Lucius finished to almost thunderous agreement, even from those with a vested interest in keeping the ministry well-funded.

"Thank you Lucius" Supreme Mugwump Dumbledore said waiting for Lucius to sit down and the crowd to quiet down some.

"let us now vote on the Misuse of muggle artefacts bill, those in favour raise a green light those against raise a red light." He continued in his official tone.

A quick glance around the room could have told you the result, a sea of red with one or two patches of green here and there.

"Majority against, the motion is defeated." Dumbledore said.

"Now, on to new business." Dumbledore said.

New business was much the same as old business bills and motions being suggested for a month's consideration before voting. Again it was at the end of the new business that Lucius put forth a motion stirring up the crowd again.

"I put forward that Sirius black 'alleged' be given his trail." Lucius said loud leaving a long pause here.

"What are you talking about surely he got one at the time?" Mugwump Dumbledore said genuinely confused.

"I had thought much the same, but after the insistence of my wife I did some probing and there is no record of a trial at all. Even if it were classified for one reason or another there would at least have been a record of it occurring. As such I don't believe he ever got one, a member of this illustrious court in jail without the common decency of being tried first." Lucius said with the intention of riling up the crowd.

"Preposterous, no one would be as bold as do such a thing." A venerable old man shouted from one of the back rows.

"I know it to be true I checked the records myself, and when that yielded no results I spoke to the man myself." He said pausing here to hear the gasps and shocked exclamations.

"He claims to be innocent." Lucius said playing the court like a finely tuned instrument now. There was much outcry at that statement.

"Lies." One man shouted.

"Surely not." Another shouted.

"An innocent man in Azkaban, don't be ridicules." A woman shouted.

There was even one who shouted.

"If an innocent member of this court can be arrested and thrown in Azkaban, what about me, and what about all of us?"

"What about the rest of us indeed." Lucius said getting the attention of the room at large.

"If Sirius Black oldest son of this country's oldest families can be tossed in a cell without due process what hope do any of us have. This act of either gross negligence or criminal activity must be investigated and its perpetrators found and punished." He said to a thunderous applause, before sitting down again.

"Thank you Lucius, the motion to try Sirius Black for the crimes committed on November first nineteen eighty one it noted for next month's session of the wizengamot. As is the motion to investigate the reason behind his lack of trail." Supreme Mugwump Dumbledore said

"With that I call to end this the July session of the wizengamot." He finished leading everyone to slowly file out of the room.

Lucius was certainly please with his performance today and that was what it was a performance. He had lead the wizengamot to see him as a crusader for wizarding progress as well as wizard rights and had even managed to make it look like he cared for the welfare of muggles at the same time. All in all, a very successful day for Lucius.

17

A.N. I doubt Dumbledore had the sword on him when he went investigating hence the ring must be touchable just not wearable as he would have needed to transport it to Hogwarts to destroy

A.N. the vast amount of money in Harry's vault must have come from somewhere and even if some had been passed down thru the generations it's still a lot of money so there must have been a family business of some kind what is shown in the film is a fair amount even if we assume it is on a table just under the height of the camera there must still be tens of thousands and with a death at age 21 in cannon that doesn't give them much time to save assuming they had time to get jobs with a war on they were lightly spending more of their money than they were making trying to help fight said war etc.

A.N. the house used in the first film where we see Harry's parents murdered is the one in using rather than the Tudor house used in DH pt1.

A.N. I just want to say I had every intention when I started out of making this a manipulative Dumbledore fic looking at how he is portrayed in the cannon I just assumed he was an evil bastard but when I am writing him I just can't see the bad motivations I projected onto him while reading the cannon. I find it infeasible that he could run a network of inhuman long term accuracy, even with magic.

A.N. I was unable to find the exact text on the plaque I don't even know if it was in its entirety in the book so I put something I felt appropriate.

A.N. I don't care what she says its teleportation, apparition – to appear, disaperition – to disappear, teleport – to disappear from one location and appear at another


	18. Summer Starts

Chapter 18 – Summer Starts.

A few days after Harry had given his aunt the photo of his mother he began to notice a fair bit of odd behaviour from her. Where before Harry had been cooking and cleaning as per his schedule to kept his life running as smoothly and without interference as much as possible. Now his aunt had been in the kitchen before him and had even set him a place at the table, something that had never happened before, even before Hogwarts he would have to eat his breakfast while cooking theirs or before he did the washing up.

It wasn't the only thing either, while Dudley and Vernon still seemed to ignore him, Aunt Petunia now seemed to be paying an exorbitant amount of attention to him considering he was using his aura of ignore almost all the time now. It had started small glancing at him at breakfast, leaving space for him to sit on the settee during tea and she had even made him a cold drink when he came in from gardening.

But the biggest thing to change was that when she spoke to him now, something that was a rare occurrence when she was under the effects of his aura, it wasn't with the pained and clipped tone she used to use; now it was a softer tone in witch Harry couldn't recognise the emotion. The first time they had spoken was an interesting conversation for both of them.

"Harry, can I talk to you for a moment?" his Aunt asked after her husband and son had left the kitchen after breakfast.

"Huh? What?" Harry eloquently said not having expected to be spoken to at all.

"Would you mind talking to me please?" his Aunt repeated.

"Yea, ok?" Harry said confused, sitting back down at the breakfast table.

"First I just wanted to say I'm sorry, I know it's not much but I am. When we were young your mother and I used to play together in the neighbourhood. Then she found her magic and started doing all sorts of freaky things like wilting and re-blooming flowers. At first I was so jealous, she tried to show me how she was doing it, but I couldn't." she paused here to remember the event in question, clearly in pain.

"Children being what they are I reacted as you might expect I told mother what a freak my sister was trying to get her in trouble. Of course what I was saying was so unbelievable to mother that I was punished for trying to get my sister in trouble, which was when it all started, I hated your mother from that moment on. It didn't matter that all she ever wanted was to share her gift with me or that she couldn't have been kinder or tried harder to make it up to me, all I could see was her flaunting her magic and how much I hated her for that." She was almost openly crying now.

"It was worse when that McGonagall woman came and told our parents about magic and Hogwarts. They'd forgotten they had punished me for telling tales on Lily, that just made me madder. When they told me I couldn't go with her to her school that was the last straw, from then on all I could see was freaks who had taken my sister away and infected her with their freakishness." you could hear the bitterness in her voice as she spoke of McGonagall.

"Our parent's weren't much help either, they would be forever going on about all the 'wonderful' things Lily could do with her magic or the letter she had sent. It didn't matter that I was doing well in school or that I even existed as far as I could tell. I began hating them for not seeing me and parsing my sister for things I could never do, it hurt so much. After a few years of this I decided if they were going to pretend they only had a freak daughter then so be it, I would pretend I didn't have parents or a sister. I got a job and moved out as soon as I was able; I never spoke to my parents or my sister again after I was sixteen." Harry could make out the photo of his mother he had given her now, in her hands as she cried while explaining this to him.

"After I moved out life was good for a time. I met Vernon when he came into the bakery where I was working at the time; we dated and fell in love. Soon we were married and Dudley was on the way, so we brought a house big enough for us all. Then not long after Dudley was born my parents died, I'd been hoping to make reconciliation and introduce them to Dudley. I was called in to identify the bodies, they had been tortured and the police said that despite their wounds they couldn't find a clear cause of death. I realised then that it had been magic that had killed them and it was somehow Lily's fault, she had taken my parents away from me twice now, taken away my chance for them to be proud of me." Harry trying to avoid his Aunt's face was concentrating on her now whitening fingers as she gripped the photo frame.

"All that hate that I thought I had left behind came rushing back. Magic, freaks, my parents, my sister I hated them all, they'd robbed me of my family. About a year later you arrived on my doorstep, with a note. Just like that it was all there freaks demanding I look after you while they fix whatever they were doing."

"At first it wasn't so bad I looked after you, fed you, clothed you. It wasn't until you did your first bit of magic that I released what it meant, you'd be a freak like my sister. All I could see then was what would happen to Dudley if I let you revel in your magic, I couldn't let him grow up like me bitter that he wasn't special, that he didn't have magic. In that moment I let all my hate for my parents and my sister transfer onto you, I know it was wrong, but it was so easy. Every time you looked up to ask for something, food, a drink, it didn't matter all I saw was Lily's eyes judging me, condemning me."

"Several years later it was like you didn't exist anymore, the hate just fizzled out. Oh I knew you still existed, I planned to feed you clothe you but whenever I was actually in your presence it was like I was on autopilot, just ignoring you. I know now that was only the case because I wanted to pretend you didn't exist, just like my sister and my parents, if I'd truly cared for you I would have noticed sooner that I couldn't notice you." She said sniffing up the last of her tears.

"I know I can't ask for you to forgive me, but at least now maybe you'll understand. I never meant for it to get this out of hand, I just wanted you to be normal." She had stood up now.

"I'm sorry." She said giving Harry a tight firm hug.

It was some time before either of them spoke and it was Harry that spoke first.

"I don't hate you." He said. His Aunt hugged him tighter at that, before he untangled himself from her.

"I just wanted you to love me like you do Dudley but all you've ever shown me is hate, I don't hate you because I don't want to be like you." Harry stood to leave

"wait." His aunt said almost pleadingly.

"What?" he said sharper than he had intended.

"I cleared out Dudley's old toy room last night I thought you might want a real bedroom for once." Petunia said almost breaking into tears again.

"Thank you." Harry said leaving the room to transfer his belongings to his new room.

When Dudley's toys weren't strewn around the room like a tornado had left them in its wake the room was actually quite large. As well it should be for a four bedroomed house this was only the second smallest, Vernon and Petunia taking the master bedroom above the living room. Dudley was in a room of equal size above the parlour; Harry's new room was separated from his by the bathroom, leaving the guest bedroom to be situated above the garage.

It was nice though having an actual room to himself now; no longer did he have to scribble down his homework in the garden or on the kitchen table when he was alone. The room though fairly sparse had a desk, a bed and a wardrobe, Harry had made use of the desk on his first visit to make a response to Headmistress Augusta.

_Dear Headmistress Longbottom._

_ I received your request for me to teach other students how to preform wandless magic. I don't really know how to respond to this, with Hermione and Neville it was a fairly simple matter, but when we tried to get the teachers to learn it, we failed miserably. I don't wish to make a fool out of myself by failing to teach a classroom full of students how to do wandless magic._

_ I am willing however to try. What I would prefer is if you pick out a few students you think might be capable of it, preferably those you think would be willing to listen to me and not mess about. Then I'll do my best at teaching them wandless magic while you have a teacher observe so that they can then teach others._

_ I will say however I only want to teach the basics of it, I only want to do a few hours of this not an entire term teaching and showing tricks I used for learning extra control, I do like my free time._

_Hoping you are well_

_Harry James Potter._

Rereading the letter before he sent it off Harry thought it clearly put forward that he didn't really want to do this but he was doing it because he felt pressured into it. Deciding it was ready to send he attached it to Archimedes' leg and sent him on his way.

It was a few days later when Harry received several letters. One from the Headmistress, it mainly focused on acceptance of his demands and thanked him for his time also informing him that he would be paid for his efforts, a nice surprise to be sure. Attached to the same bird was a letter from Neville.

_Dear Harry_

_ I was wondering if you would be free at the end of the month to come visit Diagon Ally with me and gran for my birthday. Gran says the school book lists will be out by then now that she has sorted teachers out, so you could get your books at the same time. I've invited Hermione too._

_From_

_Neville._

The last letter he received was from Hermione asking how he was doing, telling him she missed him and had he done his homework. She had even told him how her parents had been fascinated and proud of the histories they had put together over the year. The letter was full of questions and her own answers to them; it definitely reminded Harry of Hermione.

It was coming round to the end of the month, Harry and Neville had communicated the specifics of when to meet up. Harry having said he could get to Diagon on his own had insisted on meeting there, weather to be more convenient to Neville or simply to spare himself the trouble of having others meet his family, was something of a coin toss. Hermione was going to be dropped off while her parents did some shopping of their own in muggle London.

While before Harry had taken the knight buss with Hagrid this time he decided he was going to teleport there. After his success getting back from the Gaunt shack and platform nine and three quarters he felt he was up to getting to London.

As he left the Dursley kitchen via the back door he checked himself over once to make sure he had everything he needed. Patting his pockets he located his vault key, his wand, his coin bag, a scrupled up letter with his Hogwarts' supply list on it. Determining he was ready and one last check of the kitchen clock, two minutes till the appointed meeting time, he vanished from the back garden patio.

When he arrived in the muggle street outside The Leaky Cauldron he was pleased to see he hadn't been noticed appearing out of nowhere. He was according to Neville's letters he was supposed to meet at the Leaky Cauldron for eleven.

Going inside Harry's attention was drawn immediately to a wonderfully hideous hat; it was a pointed black witch's hat with what appeared to be a dead vulture situated around the cone with its neck hanging down the side. It wasn't until he had been staring at the hat for around twenty full seconds did he realise it was the headmistress wearing it.

"Happy birthday" Harry said walking up to the Headmistress and Neville, now that he had spotted him.

"Hey, glad you could make it Hermione said her parents would bring her along soon too, so we shouldn't have to wait too long." Neville said.

It was true too, they hadn't been more than five minutes before Hermione ran up and gave each of them a hug and wished them a happy birthday, Harry's being tomorrow and her not lightly to see him again before then. Her parent's had dropped her off and left her with some money while they got some shopping done in London, the chance to shop in some of the larger shops being a rarity for them.

A quick trip to Gringott's to exchange money and the day out could start in earnest. They started off the journey with a trip to the book store, something the Headmistress thought best to get out of the way first so the fun could really begin. She however wasn't as familiar with Hermione as the two boys who instantly knew starting there was a bad idea.

It only took the two boys five minutes to gather up the books listed on their school supplies list, Hermione however had gotten lost browsing a section of books on theory of magic and charms.

"Give her ten minutes to enjoy herself and then I'll go get her." Augusta said seeing Hermione skimming a book an almost forgotten pile in her basket.

The boys decided to have a bit of a look around, Harry having already picked up his extra books Albus had recommended, didn't want to pick up any others on the subject until he had read those.

That was how he ended up in the fiction section, as it tends to when someone shouts your name, seeing it in a glance also catches your attention. Harry spotted his own name on the spine of a book, not just Harry either but his full name, the books title was Harry Potter: Arabian Adventures. Upon further inspection it was part of a series of books, all alliterative and seeming to focus on adventures of some kind.

"Neville." Harry called his friend over.

"Yea?" He answered walking over from the quidditch section.

"What the hell man, there are fiction books about me, why didn't you tell me?" Harry said a little indignantly, though not angry with his friend.

"I dunno, I assumed you knew, they are just children's stories, no harm in it." Neville said.

"No harm, no harm, people are going to be looking at me to be some sort of super wizard, look at this one I'm slaying a freaking dragon on the cover." Harry said exasperated.

"It's not like they are in the non-fiction section Harry, everyone knows it's just made up stuff, bed time stories you know." Neville said trying to calm his friend down.

"Grr." Harry grumbled not making actual words just moaning.

"If it bothers you that much just contact the publisher or something." Neville suggested and walked off to get his gran to buy him a quidditch book he had been inspecting earlier.

Turning the book about 'his' adventure with dragons over he noticed it was published by Potter Publishing, that just incensed him further. He decided he would have to do something about this, unfortunately he didn't really know what, all he knew is that he really didn't want these books sold anymore.

Before he could figure out what he was going to do about the books, Neville and the headmistress returned Hermione in tow this time. Hermione had managed to find the arithmency section of the theory of magic area and had come out with what looked like armfuls of books. In reality it was only three more on top of her school books that the headmistress had recommended when she had come across Hermione's dilemma with deciding what to get.

There was some more shopping though mainly just refills of potion supplies and new robes, after which they all stopped for ice cream at Florian Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Despite the seemingly endless selection of flavours, Harry never having had ice cream decided on just a plain vanilla, Hermione a mint chocolate chip. Neville being the birthday boy was treated to a special dish with chocolate sparklers and umpteen different flavours.

There was another surprise that Augusta had for the three of them, after they had finished their ice cream she told them that she had bought tickets to one of the annual duelling tournaments for them all. The tickets themselves being portkeys to the location they were set to depart in five minutes.

After arriving and eventually being seated in the coliseum like arena Hermione started asking questions.

"What are the rules? How many competitors are there? What does the winner receive? How do they make sure the audience isn't hurt during the dual from stray spells?" Hermione asked as new questions formed in her mind.

"There are only eight in this competition. The rules are fairly strait forward, no unforgivables, no sorcery, no magic consuming spells and finally no attacking once your opponent has been disabled. An individual round are only decided once either combatant has been rendered unconscious, incapable of continuing or concedes. The audience is protected by a rune powered shield, it is also why we are elevated from the arena so stray spells are lightly to hit the walls rather than the defensive screen. I'm not sure what the winner will receive from this particular competition there is usually a cash prize and a gift of some kind from the sponsor." The headmistress said from her position behind the three children, Harry and Neville paying far more attention to the competitors now parading round the arena.

Almost every one of the competitors seemed to be wearing amour of some kind. One of the competitors, Dan Delamarco was even wearing a silver breastplate, most though were only wearing leather armour of some kind, Harry assumed it was dragon hide as it looked a little like his gloves for herbology. The only one not wearing any visible armour was a tall dark haired man wearing a long coat, not quite a robe, called Lance Lombardi.

Dan as it turned out was last year's champion, a member of a pureblood family that had made a living on competing in and winning various tournaments and competitions. His armour was apparently a family heirloom and had been enchanted to protect against temperature variations and to be heavily resistant to transfiguration; the last you want is someone trapping you in your own armour, also being made from silver provided a measure of resistance against physical blows too.

Lance was apparently a new comer to the sport having come to advertise his merchandise for a business he was hoping to start, according to the headmistress it was one of the more effective ways to get your wares seen. Meaning he was less interested in the prize than he was in showing off his talents and wares whatever they were.

None of the other competitors stood out as anything special, though you could clearly see some of them trying to psych themselves up. One of the more nervous ones was doing squats while waiting for his match to being.

The first match was between Dan and one of the unimpressive masses. It was quick and devastating Dan had immediately launched into a quick volley of spells of witch his opponent blocked, shielded and parried. However by doing so he had to back up further each successive hit leaving him with his back to the wall, witch Dan then transfigured into a pair of arms to his opponent.

Thinking fast he apperated to the other side of the arena hoping to catch Dan unaware. The stunner he shot at Dan however was deflected by the silver armour he ware, something he had forgotten about now combat had begun. With a quick turn Dan was able to dispatch his opponent as he was realising his mistake in aiming for Dan's centre of mass rather than the more difficult target of his head.

The arena was quickly cleared up and returned to its original state by four officials before the next bout started. While the arena was cleared up the Headmistress offered her opinion on the spectacle for the children's benefit.

"Dan Delamarco is of the Delamarco family who own and operated the armoury in Diagon Ally, they are among the finest non-goblin armourers around. However Dan clearly relied too much on his quick opening and his armour to protect him from a reactionary counter attack, definitely not a sound tactic outside of a one on one confrontation, or even something he will get away with for long in the professional circuit." Augusta said, more so to the boys than to Hermione, whom she had been keeping informed of the spells she had recognised in the fight.

The next bout was between two of the un-outstanding competitors, it showed in their combat too. Where Dan had clearly had a plan and had immediately launched into a flurry of activity these two circled each other for a while before doing anything at all.

Once it did start you could see neither had much experience as even Harry could tell after the second shot from one of the competitors he was trying to drive his opponent to one side to corner him against the wall. It wouldn't have been so obvious if he hadn't started quite wide to the other side with his spells. His opponent had also clearly noticed this and apperated to the other side of his oncoming spells instead of dodging.

After avoiding the poorly executed faint he attacked his opponent directly advancing as he did. Harry noticed that while some of the spells connected they had been deflected slightly by the dragon hide the man had been wearing. In advancing and casting what must have been a pre practiced chain of spells the combatant was totally unprepared for his opponent to be still standing afterwards as he was kicked in the shin and stunned point black for his efforts.

This time Augusta's commentary was more complimentary considering the state of the fight.

"A good effort on both part of both parties, they both tried actual tactics though neither executed them particularly well. It was more a lack of experience and planning for the event of failure that lead to his loss. A bit more experience and they could both become fine dualists eventually." Augusta said much to Harry's agreement.

Another uneventful match followed this time both entrants were relying more upon their armour, being more heavily armoured than the previous two but not as well as Dan. It was clear though each was worried about when his armour would give by the look of panic when a particularly fast or violent looking spell glanced their armours. As the match went on the power of the spells kept increasing neither having penetrated the others armour yet, leading to the inevitable result of an over powered dark cutting curse taking one of their arms, because it was the first thing to get through the dragon hide not the stunners and disabling hexes used in the lead up.

"That was what happens when you rely upon armour to make up for skill and power. Eventually ever piece of armour fails and without the skill to not need it its very hard to tell when. It wouldn't surprise me if he was out next round too I can't see him making it to the final with a display like that in the first round." Augusta said.

"Will they be able to reattach his arm?" Hermione asked concern lacing her voice.

"Depends on the medical staff. If they have a master healer here yes, but it will never be quite right, phantom pains and the occasional loss of feeling are common side effects of reattaching a limb." Augusta replied to the attention of all three children.

"What if they don't have a master healer hear?" Hermione asked wondering what the difference was.

"Normal healers much like Madam Pomfrey aren't trained in the removal of dark magic from wounds. While they are very capable of fixing illnesses and injuries, cursed wounds such as those inflicted with dark magic require specialist training to be able to deal with." Augusta explained, before Hermione could ask another question the next match was announced.

Lance and another contender entered the combat arena; lance did so with fluid movement and played to the crowd as he did. His opponent clearly didn't like that it got the crowd worked up for lance and left him looking like a fool.

The dual opened with a flurry of activity from Lance's enraged opponent, however the seemingly unarmoured Lance simply lifted his coat tail in front of the spell fire. Much to the frustration of his opponent the spells simply defected off his coat onto the floor, harmlessly dissipating. After witch Lance moved quickly to close the distance and stunned his opponent ending the match.

"Well that was very interesting, the coat while seeming to be cotton or some other material is clearly some kind of glamour or more lightly a transfiguration given that it didn't behave like dragon hide. That is going to make him quite rich if he wins here, especially if he can form it to fit any style or material." Augusta commented, arising each of the children's interest again, though this time for different reasons. Hermione because she wondered how it was done, Harry and Neville because the coat looked pretty cool and to find it was also hiding armour was cooler still.

The next match was Dan against the victor of the second match, it was over quickly too. Like his first match Dan opened with a flurry of spells while advancing on his opponent, using his height and armour to intimidate his opponent in to backing up. This time though his opponent managed to get of a few spells in counter attack, it proved to be a mistake however as in doing so he neglected to dodge or block any of Dan's spells hoping his armour would be enough, it wasn't.

"that's a typical tactic of the overconfident and well armoured, in any real combat situation its completely ineffective, not that you can tell the fools who think they are all but untouchable that's the case." Augusta said with hint of venom in her voice, brokering no questions because of it.

The next match was between Lance and the third match winner this was over fairly quickly again though this time Lance showcased another feature of his stylish armour. This time he used it to parry the spells as they came until he was able to get it just right and was able to flick the edge of his coat just so as to reflect the spell at his opponent. Taking advantage of his opponent's shock he was able to quickly over power him after that.

"That is a very impressive trick, again though it's only suitable for single combat when facing someone you know for sure you can beat anyway. He's clearly a very skilled wizard but if he does something like that in the final he'll regret it." Augusta said, though her opinion clearly wasn't shared by the cheering crowd, most of who seemed to be quiet enamoured with Lance and his flowing coat.

There was a short recess before the final round; when they came back they were introduced by an announcer, who gave a little background information on each before the dual began. It turned out Lance was indeed here to make a name for his armour or at least the technique he used to make it, as the announcer had said the spell used was capable of turning any material into a flexible cloth while retaining its original properties.

"That might actually be alchemy then, I don't know much about it myself but I know enough about transfiguration to know it's not part of that." Augusta said really thinking now on how it was done.

The dual its self was much grander than all the previous ones, each fighter clearly having saved their best for last. It didn't start of much different for Dan as he started with his usual opener of intimidation and spell fire. Lance had been ready for him disapparating from the spot and not reappearing.

In the centre of duelling arena Dan slowly looked around to try and find his target, when he was unable to do so he cast a spell. The spell induced a thick moving fog to cover the area, it didn't rise above knee height but it was enough to reveal Lance's position when it connected with him.

Lance had been using his time while invisible wisely and had cast several spells over the area such that from Dan's point of view the room started to become darker as if a cloud had passed over the sun. Another spell had walls appear to get taller and dome inwards, though not an actual transfiguration, as the power required would be much higher, again decreasing the light Dan could see.

When he had been discovered Lance had disapperated again this time not bothering to become invisible, leaving Dan to instantly whorl around and shoot spells at him. He parried a few and towards the end of the now expected chain he side stepped to right leaving the sun directly behind him. With a flick of his wand Lance dispelled the illusions he had cast on Dan causing him to wince and cover his face as the sun hit him in the eyes, as he tried to adjust to the change in light levels. It left him open and close as he had advanced on Lance as he had the others it wasn't hard for him to be hit with a stunner in an unprotected area.

"That was awesome, Lance destroyed him." Harry said.

"Yea did you see that, he didn't stand a chance just charging in intimidating people?" Neville said

"That was definitely quiet impressive with the use of illusions, complex branch of charms that. Pay attention to his use of the environment there and how he maneuverer his opponent where he wanted him, all the while letting his opponent think he had caught him wrong footed." Augusta said.

"Will we learn any illusions at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"Not till after your O.W.L.s in sixth year, its one of the more demanding bits of charms requiring fine control and a good imagination." Augusta replied.

"What about healing will we learn any of that?" Hermione asked since they had discussed healing earlier.

"Not in any of your actual classes but Poppy, er Madam Pomfrey runs an extra-curricular study in first aid for N.E.W.T. students." Augusta said.

The wind down for the tournament proceeded without much excitant for the group and it wasn't long before Harry and Hermione had wished Neville happy birthday one more time and they were ready to leave. Hermione was to meet her parents in a muggle café not far from The Leaky Cauldron, Harry however simply teleported back to the Dursley's home.

When he got to his new room he discovered a pile of new neatly stacked clothing on his bed, pairs of jeans and T-shirts along with several pairs of underwear and even a pair of trainers. In the past Harry had always received his cousin's hand me downs, it had been so long now that he simply didn't think of it any more it was just clothes. This gift was clearly an olive branch of sorts from his aunt, an effort to make the first step; he decided he wouldn't say anything but he would give her that chance.

A.N. it's used a lot in fan fiction and it has been quite some time since I read the books but I was under the assumption that there was harry potter children's books in cannon, having checked lexicon and wiki I can't find mention of them. However Ginny seems awfully star struck for a girl who wouldn't even remember the first war ten years later so there must have been some sort of media perpetuating the legend of Harry potter beyond just text books as it would have been very dull for a child to read

A.N. when I created the oc chars for the torni I just came up with random names, figured I'd stick with alliteration though seems to be a theme in the hp world. I figured that taking the kids to a sporting event of sorts would be just the sort of thing they might do for a birthday. I doubt we will be seeing any of them again though if we do it will be lance and only in a salesman capacity or a victim of war.

A.N. I don't know how well it's coming across but I'm trying to make Hermione seem more interested in how stuff works rather than how to do stuff which is what I'm trying to make Harry seem like I would be interested on feedback on this topic.


	19. News and Nemeses

Chapter 19 – News and Nemeses

Now that Harry had finally had some time to himself during these busy summer holidays he had managed to catch up on his correspondences. He had received word from the headmistress regarding his teaching, wherein she had agreed to his requests and would discuss it with him further once term started. The other letter he dealt with was one he wrote this time to Albus, not really knowing any other magical adults outside of school.

_Dear Albus._

_ I recently came across a series of books "about" me. I don't mean the history type book either those I can accept; the death of my parents did end a civil war after all. But what I'm talking about is the Harry Potter fiction books._

_ I spotted them while I was out with Neville for his birthday so I didn't get to read them beyond the synopsis. Even that was enough to tell me that they are adventure tales staring me, pitting me against everything from mummies to dragons._

_ Don't misunderstand this next part, I am not against fantasy adventure novels or even based on true events styled fiction. But I object to these stories brandishing about the idea that I'm some sort of adventurer capable of ridiculous feats of magic and daring, the expectation that puts on me to perform isn't something I want. Worse still I noticed that it was published seemingly by my family's own publishing company, giving some legitimacy to the idea of the superhero I'm represented as in these books._

_Being a child I kind of doubt they are going to take me seriously but with your help something could be done. I understand that getting rid of all copies ever sold is unlikely to be possible; however getting the remaining copies band from being sold seems reasonably doable._

_Sincerely _

_Harry Potter_

Archimedes was definitely getting a work out this summer, with all the mail Harry had sent between his friends. Harry always made sure to reward him though when he got back or delivered a post for him.

This morning Harry received his first copy of the Daily Prophet, to which he had now subscribed. Plastered all over the front was an article on what Harry assumed must be Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy.

_Lucius Malfoy, Wizarding Rights Activist. (Pictured below)_

_Lucius Malfoy, featured in an earlier article for his role in the reform of Hogwarts, has this week prevented a bill being passed into law that would have restricted the civil liberties of wizards and witches all over the UK._

_The bill in question was Arthur Weasley's Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Bill. The proposed bill would have made it illegal without ministry approval to charm any object that could be found in a muggle environment. Ask yourself for a moment, even if it's not used the same way, are there any charmed objects in your home, workplace or anyplace you know of that isn't found in a muggle environment._

_Lucius Malfoy gave an impassioned speech to the Wizengamot making it clear just how poorly written and thought out this bill was. It had been launched as a bill to increase ministry revenue and protect muggles from the few who would pray upon them, where in actuality it was a licence to fine any wizard, search any home, arrest any witch and print money. Was it written with that in mind, this witch can only speculate but I for one am glad we have upstanding members of the wizengamot like Lucius Malfoy to defend our civil liberties and our bank vaults._

_For more on the defeated bill turn to pg7._

_For more on Lucius Malfoy and his charitable efforts turn to pg8._

_For more on Lucius's role in the reformation of Hogwarts turn to pg9._

_Article written by Rita Skeeter._

Having read both the main article and the follow up ones Harry was glad for Lucius's involvement in Hogwarts, he honestly couldn't think of anything that had been adversely effected, with the possible exception of the school's reputation, by the changes since Christmas. He didn't think Albus had done it intentionally just that he had been removed from teaching the students for too long to see the direct results of the decisions he had made while in charge.

His thoughts on the way Lucius had dealt with the wizengamot bill however a little less glowing was. Not knowing how politics really worked, being something that he had never been exposed to in the muggle world and having very little interest in it in the wizarding one Harry wasn't sure what to think. Was it really necessary to have the bill thrown out completely, couldn't it have been changed or reworded, surely a need for some sort of regulation on charmed objects getting into muggle hands. He definitely agreed that unlimited fines and being allowed to search any home at will was beyond reasonable.

Along with catching up on the news Harry had managed to read the book Albus had recommended on curse braking. The book itself had been more of a what not to do guide or at least the first few chapters. The very first sentence of chapter one, identifying a potentially cursed object, had been never poke it with your wand.

It went on to say that the wand acts as a conduit for a large number of curses and that prodding cursed objects is a good way to get yourself injured or killed. To identify a curse it suggested starting with twigs and using your wand to levitate them to make contact with the object in question, observing the results and the boundaries of the activation of the curse. It cleared that up by saying even if the curse wouldn't affect a twig by casting some spells it listed you could tell if a curse was attempting to affect those aspects.

For example casting those spells on a twig would have allowed Harry to see that beyond the rotting curse there was also a reason inhabitation curse, designed to make you put the ring on, also attached to it. Not that had been able to check as using his wand outside of Hogwarts to find out would have landed him in trouble.

He had however read further into the book when he found he wouldn't be able to do anything practical till he got back to Hogwarts. The second chapter, determining the power, levels and reserves, of your cursed object, described probable levels of power and how to recognise them.

It started with a section on identifying the marital of your cursed object, mineral or metal. Minerals such as stones, semi-precious gems and precious gems are what provide reserves for the curse or enchantment in the opposite case. Metals proved the conduit to recharge or expel the magic or the curse, different metals having different magical conductivity indexes with gold being among the best.

Harry's ring had a band of gold and The Resurrection Stone in its gem setting, the problem with this for Harry is the stone wasn't on the list of stones the book provided so he couldn't be sure if it was providing a reserve of power for the curse or not. Not that it really needed it even with as small as the amount of gold on the ring was, such a good conductor of magic was it that disenchanting it was going to be a difficult task.

The book had explained that the larger the amount of metal the more curses or enchantments could be applied to an object, but again it was a sliding scale dependent upon quality of the metal in question. Reserves too are dependent upon the same principal, the example used in the book to demonstrate this was that Hogwarts used the entire cliff that it was built on as a ward stone to allow for a massive reserve of magic in case of siege.

The third chapter of the book, de-cursing an overview, had explained that in order to cleanse an object of a curse it must in all cases, not involving destruction, be drained of their magic and prevented from recharging. In order to do this specialist items were needed, enchanted rods of gold and other metals are common and are used to transfer the reserves into other objects.

There was a supplementary entry stating that the magic must be purified during the transfer process to avoid conflicting with the magic in the receptacle, assuming it was also an enchanted object. When draining objects into non enchanted Martials they take on the properties of curse if not purified.

It was an interesting book even going into warding and the difference between a ward and an enchant or curse. Unfortunately beyond identifying the curse on the object there was very little information on the specifics of actually breaking the curse, though there was another book recommended, coincidently by the same author.

Harry's investigation of the ring hadn't yielded much more information that his initial investigation before the book, but at least he had an idea of where to go next. He was hopeful that the Hogwarts library would have information on the specifics of making one of these rods needed for disenchanting.

Voldemort had been having a much less interesting summer much of which involved possessing creatures of limited mental capacity and traveling, lots of traveling. When he had abandoned Quirrell he had been in London, but he had used the floo to escape the scene, unfortunately that had left him quire far from London, he had begun traveling back before he had stopped to re-plan his course of action.

Now he was almost at his destination, the home of one of his first loyal death eaters, Even Rosier Sr. Even Rosier was Tom's very first follower, perhaps the closest thing to a friend he ever had. It was in the second year of Hogwarts that Tom had gained the loyalty of Rosier.

Tom had not been the only one victimised in Slytherin house Rosier too had been a victim, his parents out of favour with the pureblood community hadn't been able to help. Tom had seen an opportunity here; the Rosiers while not popular at the time were at least quiet rich. Being as poor as he was Tom was no stranger to the true value of money. Money can buy a lot of things, your next meal, a warm bed to sleep in, but with the right contacts money can buy power.

It hadn't taken much to sway Rosier over to his way of thinking a few lies here about others plotting against him, some time to let the paranoia sink in and showing up at the right time to act the hero. It hadn't been all he went on to teach his new minion to defend himself and raising his grade in class. By the end of his second year Tom had a minion who would go on to follow him till death.

Voldemort approached the manner of his oldest minion he had taken the body of a fox, his possession of it had deformed it so that like Quirrell it had his face on the back of its head. His presence had obviously triggered the wards and alerted Evan to him as he could be seen waiting on the doorstep for his lord.

He approached slowly so as not to meet a messy end from a spooked minion, but also to gage his response. It had been ten years since he had last seen Rosier, his wife had died and his son was in Azkaban for following him, perhaps enough to sway his loyalty away.

There was nothing Voldemort could discern in his minions body language or appearance to indicate an impending trap or betrayal, in fact he looked down right pleased to see him. Stopping in front of his minion he waited as Rosier bowed and welcomed him into his home, something of an odd sight, a wealthy man bowing to a fox.

Once they had adjourned to the living room and seated themselves conversation began in earnest.

"My lord I am pleased you've survived." Rosier started.

"If it can be called that I suppose I have. I need your help Rosier." Voldemort said.

"How can I be of service my lord?" Rosier said.

"I am going to need you to help me construct a homunculus. It must be done without alerting anyone, so you cannot get the ingredients from Nocturne, they must be gathered personally." Voldemort instructed.

"My lord why can I not gather others, we could restore you to form much quicker with more resources?" Rosier asked.

"True but who of those could we trust not to betray us while I am weekend. No best we stay beneath notice till I can gather my strength." Voldemort replied.

"Very well my lord but it will take some time to gather the ingredients. Many have few if any use beside the creation of a homunculus. I know the suppliers of a few apothecaries, I will scout them out under the guise of gathering ingredients for an illicit potion of some kind and see if they grow or raise the required supplies." Rosier said thinking aloud.

"Very good Rosier, but that still leaves the issues of the most important ingredient. It will have to be gathered last and it needs to be powerful and young. If we move on one too soon it will bring too much attention to us as they do not simply go missing." Voldemort advised.

"I understand my lord I may have to get one from outside Britain, Hogwarts is far too well guarded to get one from outside without being noticed." Rosier informed his lord.

"Yes that might be for the best. In the mean time I need a few things to make my existence like this more comfortable; if you don't have them it should be possible to acquire them without raising suspicion." Voldemort said.

"I will get them immediately my lord." Rosier said as he left the room to find what his lord needed.

With summer drawing to a close and his frustration with the ring taking up less of his time, having hit a metaphorical brick wall in his attempts to get the stone from the ring, Harry had spent a lot of time trying to enjoy the sun. He had at first just enjoyed doing the gardening; he was surprised when his aunt had brought out a pair of deck chairs, a collapsible table and a picture of juice and invited him to sit.

He could see she was making an effort to make amends with him, she had on his birthday gotten him a cake witch was shared with the whole family at tea time, not that Harry begrudged them that, he couldn't have eaten it all himself anyway. There had been more clothes too, this time stuff more appropriate for the summer weather, shorts and T-shirts.

But it wasn't until the final week of his summer holidays that his aunt finally came out and asked what she had obviously wanted to all those times she had been hovering around him while he worked.

He had been moving some of the new plants his aunt had bought from the plastic pots they came in to the nursery in the back garden near where he had been apparating from this summer, when his aunt approached him. It had been common for her to bring him a glass of juice while he worked now that he had come to expect it somewhat when working on projects for her, as this new nursery was.

"Harry, can you stop for a moment I want a word?" Aunt Petunia asked handing Harry his glass of orange.

"Yea, sure, what do you want?" asked Harry wiping the sweat from his brow as he stood up and took the glass.

"I don't know if you heard, but when Dumbledore came to pick you up at the start of the summer, I had something of a fit of rage." She paused here seeing Harry nod she continued. "Well you must have heard that it was about not being able to say good bye to my sister, I was wondering, hoping that you could find out where they buried her so that I could go and say goodbye to her." His aunt said.

"He actually took me to their graves that day; I could take you if you want." Harry said.

"Would you mind, it would mean a lot to me if you would?" Petunia asked.

"Erm I only actually know how to get there by magic, is that ok?" Harry asked, knowing his aunts issues with magic he had been avoiding using it as much as possible in her presence since they had talked.

"Yes, that's fine Harry." She answered after a short pause; she reached for Harry's now extended hand.

After a quick whooshing sensation, like that of going over a humpbacked bridge Petunia found herself and her nephew in a small rustic town. Looking around she could see a small post office that was also the local shop a pub and a church, it seemed everything the town had was in this small square.

Harry had given her a moment to get her bearings before gently guiding her to the churchyard were his parents are buried.

One of the thoughts that went through Aunt Petunia's mind was that it was a nice quiet village, somewhere she could have seen the Lily from her childhood living. Her sister had always loved flowers and the village green in front of the church was filled with flower beds despite the statue that stood there.

She hadn't even noticed that Harry had led her to the grave of her sister until they stopped in the graveyard, reminding her why she came again. Harry had moved off to the side to allow his aunt to grieve privately.

She knelt down in front of the gravestone, pulling her skirt up a bit so as not to get it dirty.

"I'm so sorry Lily, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, I'm sorry I couldn't put the past behind me and treat your son like my own, I'm so sorry." She was already openly crying now.

Harry waited by the wall of the cemetery for fifteen minutes for his Aunt to finish mourning her sister. When she returned her eyes were puffy and red and there was a damp patch on her sleeve, both of which he politely ignored.

"Are you ready to go back to Privet Drive?" Harry asked.

"One moment. Where are we?" his Aunt asked after composing herself a little.

"You know I'm not really sure, I know the village is called Godric's Hollow, but I don't actually know where it is. I mean I assume it's in the UK somewhere as the signs are all in English." Harry said as he contemplated the question himself now that it had been brought up.

"That's ok I should be able to find it from that." Petunia replied, thinking she would be able to find it on a map to revisit some other time, perhaps with flowers next time.

"Ok, take my hand." Harry said offering it.

Taking his hand they both vanished from the gate of the churchyard.

In the final week of the summer holidays something happened to Harry that had not happened since the winter holidays, he had a dream. It wasn't a prophetic dream or even one of any real significance, but what it did mean was that he had completed the sorting of his memories and could continue on to the next stage of his occlumency training.

He had also finally gone through all of his parent's personal belongings; his favourite item had been a silver mirror adorned with animals, though why it had a rat had baffled him. His parents wands had both felt dead, there had been no warmth to them like with his own wand nor had there been any kind of feeling to holding them other than the feeling of holding a stick, he had been a little disappointed at that.

He had also made a list of all the books in the other half of the chest. He hadn't been able to read any of them at first and had, had to borrow a magnifying glass from his Aunt. Most of them appeared to be fiction of one kind or another, everything from romance novels to adventure stories. There had been a fair amount of books on magic too, at least that's what he suspected them of being, both not being able to resize them or have time to read them in any case.

A.N. I feel with Albus being outside of school and sending letters to Harry he has a better link than as the head of school only seen at meal times and when Harry's injured.

A.N. I tried to give the impression that Harry had read the article because he recognised the name Malfoy from Draco not because he was interested in the politics as almost all children aren't.

A.N. I tried to give the impression that the tournament in the last chapter was something of an entry level one but apparently that didn't come across


	20. Back to School

Chapter 20 – Back to School

The day of his return to Hogwarts, Harry had to admit that this summer had been somewhat surreal for him. With the trip to Godric's Hollow to find out about his parents from Albus had been very emotional and something of a bonding experience between the two, even if it was unspoken. What followed with his aunt had been so far outside of his expectations he had been suspicious of her for a full two weeks after she had spoken to him.

But it was his adventure with the Resurrection Stone that had him thinking most. It wasn't even the stone it's self that had him thinking it was the adventure, as he had decided to call it. The whole thing just made him want to be a curse breaker even more, to know more about wards and curses in general.

His aunt had agreed to give him a lift to Kings Cross station today; she had actually offered the lift before he had asked. The journey had even been quiet nice she had stopped and bought him some sweets for the train ride and even made polite conversation during the traffic jams on the way into central London. What surprised Harry most though was the hug she gave him after she helped him get his trunk out of the back seat of the car.

It was the first time Harry could recall ever thinking of his aunt as an actual member of his family not just a prison warden and task master, he was almost sad to go back to school. He didn't have much time to dwell on such thoughts as they had arrived at Five to Eleven and the train would be leaving soon. With a quick wave and a promise of writing her Harry pushed his trolley through the invisible barrier between the platforms.

It wasn't therefore much of a sock to find that almost all of the students had already boarded the train and the adults were really only hanging around to see their children off. He spotted Hermione's parents first, leaning towards a window of the train, obviously talking with their daughter. Taking her parents position as a queue Harry located the carriage his friends had found for themselves inside the train.

With a little help from Neville he got his turn on the overhead luggage rail only moments before the train began moving, prompting a final wave goodbye to Hermione's parents from the whole group.

"hey." Harry said with a nod as he sat down.

"Hiya, Harry." Hermione replied, Neville just smiling and nodding.

"So how was your summer, after Neville's birthday?" Harry asked.

Hermione immediately launched into a detailed explanation of her summer.

"Well after I finished the school texts for next year I managed to persuade my parents to let me go back to Diagon for some more, only two though. Anyway I got this fascinating book on the theory of magic, its more practical that it sounds though, it had an explanation of how common wand movements are more of an aid to memorisation and visualisation of the spell than an actual part of it, I can't wait to try and find out if it's true." Hermione said.

"So you spent your entire summer reading?" Harry asked somewhat disappointed.

"No of course not I went to the pictures and swimming too, but that's hardly interesting." Hermione said, personally Harry thought just the opposite having never done either of those things.

"Cinema?" Neville asked

"It's like a theatre but not live." Harry responded.

"Can we all go next summer?" Neville asked, the only plays he had seen had been with his gran and hadn't been very interesting to someone his age at the time.

"Sure we can go for Harry's birthday if he doesn't mind." Hermione said.

"Err, yea ok, we'll probably have to meet at the cinema or at least in town my uncle isn't exactly fond of magic at the best of times." Harry said a little nervously thinking of his uncle's reaction to Neville's gran and her hat.

"I didn't do much after my birthday; gran was really busy with Hogwarts and didn't have much time to spare so I spent most of the summer in the greenhouse." Neville answered.

"So what about you Harry?" Hermione asked. Here Harry paused before answering he had originally planned on telling his friends about the ring and his adventure in acquiring it, in fact that had been why he had asked about their summers, so they would ask in return. Now that it came to revealing its presence he wasn't sure he wanted to any more, beyond the ring he wasn't sure what he should share about his summer most of it being fairly personal between him and his aunt.

"I went with Dumbledore to see my family's home in Godric's Hollow, which was kinda surreal." Harry said trying to think of something that wasn't the ring to share with his friends, not even know why he was keeping it from them.

"Really, how so?" Hermione asked, ever curious.

"It was weird. The house was just left there half burned up and derelict, it was like walking through a movie set or something, everything looked as though it was ready to use but it was so empty of life. I don't know how to describe it, I could almost see their bodies." Harry said clearly haunted by the experience as he remembered it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up painful memories." Hermione said.

"Ou, speaking of memories, I finished my occlumency to the point I can do the next bit what about you guys?" she asked excitedly and a bit louder than she had intended to start.

"Huh, oh yea I finished a few days ago." Harry replied snapping out of his daze.

"Yea me too, I was pretty weirded out when I had a dream that night I wasn't expecting it I'll tell you. At first I was like I don't remember uncle Algie being a toad, but like in every dream I just passed it off as normal until I eventually worked out it was a dream and not a memory I was supposed to be sorting." Neville said much to the amusement of the other two.

By the time the train pulled into Hogwarts the group had caught up on all the events of the summer and had started paying a game of cards. It wasn't until they actually departed the train that they realised that last year they had been first years and had instruction to follow Hagrid, now however they had no idea what was going on.

"I think we had best follow the crowd, or we're gonna end up stood at the station like a bunch of idiots." Neville said.

"I never thought of it before but there really should have been some communication as to what we are supposed to do when we get off the train, it's all so different this year." Hermione complained.

"I'll mention it to gran." Neville said a little confused himself, as the group fell in line behind the older students heading into town.

They didn't get much of a look at the town, it being dark already and the fact that the carriages that the general thrum of students had been headed towards distracted them. They reminded Hermione of the carriages in Cinderella, and indeed made her wonder what was pulling them. Harry didn't need to wonder though the black leathery horse like creature pulling it was both visible and highly intimidating to Harry.

It wasn't even the appearance that had Harry wary of the creatures , it was the way that they had all turned to look at him as soon as he got close, seemingly ignoring almost every other person at the coach stop. He checked too it wasn't coincidence as he moved left and right the head and eyes followed him as he did.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked seeing Harry's odd dance on the spot.

"What are you talking about; this horse thing is staring at me?" Harry said confused, thinking it obvious that he was checking to make sure it was him the horse was staring at.

"What horse thing?" Neville asked now paying attention to his friend's conversation.

"This horse thing." Harry said now patting the very leathery hide of the horse thing's neck just in front of the spot where its wings erupted.

Making sure he wasn't insane Hermione moved forward and patted, for all she could tell was thin air, only to find that there did appear to be something there.

"Oh my, there is something there; it feels kind of like the settee at home." Hermione commented stroking the creature's neck.

"See, I told you." Harry said observing the horse like creature lean its neck into Hermione's ministrations.

"I still can't see it." Hermione said.

"Me either." Neville added.

"fine so apparently the pair of you can't see this horse thing even if its right in front of you or even when you are touching it, I am going to assume there is a reason for that and it's not just that it doesn't like you." Harry said moving to get into the carriage noticing that they had been holding up a large queue of people behind them.

By the time they had reached Hogwarts they had finished arguing about the selectively invisible horse like creature with wings, deciding to simply look it up when they had time. The carriages dropped the students off just outside the main entrance, they had used it last year when spending time in the grounds, it lead almost directly to the great hall.

This time it was a little different to when they had arrived in first year, the staff were directing the students where to sit. They had the older students sit closet to the staff table and descending to second years closest to the door. The only aberration to this was that the prefects had been directed to sit closest to the first years and introduce themselves during their meals. When he thought on it though he hadn't noticed at the time it was very similar to the layout in Harry's first year.

Harry noticed several professors at the staff table he hadn't seen before. On the right most side of the teacher's table was a youngish looking woman. Though Harry idly noted that it didn't mean she was young as Professor McGonagall was apparently in her seventies despite not looking it. Paying a bit more attention Harry noticed that unlike the thick robes the other teachers wore, she was wearing a form fitting dress that seemed to give her appearance a regal look.

He also spotted his friend Hagrid on the other end of the table, next to a teacher that although he had been at the table last year Harry had never met or been introduced to. Together the pair made quite the odd site, Hagrid sitting taller than everyone else at the table and second shortest teacher who seemed to have a wooden arm and wild hair.

Harry's attention was suddenly drawn to the door when Deputy Headmistress McGonagall pushed them open and lead in the new group of first years. Even in the year since he was one it was already amazing to him that he was ever that small, almost all of them looked nervous and frightened. Only two stood out amongst the group the first being a young red headed girl, standing out as the only red head in the group and because it so closely matched the Weasley's hair.

The only other was another young girl this time it was because she looked so serine and spaced out. Her long blonde hair gave her an ethereal look when combined with her vacant stare at something apparently fascinating about the candelabra.

At least that was the case until there was a bright flash from one of the other students, who had apparently thought it was a good idea to take a photograph at that exact moment. It was a young boy that seemed to be completely unaware of just how inappropriate it was to take a photo just then, or even just how many unfriendly looks it had gained him in that moment.

It wasn't long before McGonagall reached the front the group trailing behind her as she put a stool and The Sorting Hat in front of them. There were a few confused looks and another flash of a camera at the hat, before its rim ripped and it burst into song, this time it was reminiscent of a rap song.

"_Now this is the Story all about how, _

_Life got flipped, turned right side up,_

_And I'd like to take a minute, just stand right there,_

_I'll tell you how I became the Sorting Hat of a school called Hogwarts._

_In west fen plains, Salazar was born and raised._

_On the battleground is where he spent his days._

_Plotting, planning, winning, all cool, _

_And enchanting some tools outside of a keep._

_When a couple of wizards, who were up to some good,_

_Started makin' a school in their neighbourhood._

_He gave a hand and then his heart got snared,_

_And he said "I'm movin' in with ya, there's some teachin' ta do."_

_He whistled for his pet, and when it came near,_

_There was a chill in the air and a right big scare._

_If anything I could say that this pet was rare,_

_But I thought "nah forgot it, I seen one before."_

_He taught and thought, when about soon or late,_

_And yell to Godric "yo homes, sortin' when we late."_

_He pulled me off his head and I was finally here,_

_To sit on my throne as The Sorting Hat of Hogwarts."_

The Sorting Hat's song over McGonagall started calling students up to be sorted, it was quickly evident who the student with the camera was because he took another photo, of the staff table this time, as his name was called out, Colin Creevey. Harry couldn't really say he was all bad really, maybe he was just very excitable and wanted to share Hogwarts with his family back home or something. It didn't take very long at all before Colin was sorted into Gryffindor, after all it must take courage to take photos at such inappropriate times.

The young blonde girl Harry discovered shortly after was called Luna, he thought it somewhat fit her in that indescribable way that names sometimes do for some people. Luna it turned out was Ravenclaw material despite the apparently vacant look on her face.

It was much longer before the redhead was sorted, long enough that Harry noticed the names had gotten past the Ss and that the Weasleys were paying a great deal of attention to the girl, who was trying her best to ignore them. The twins especially were pulling faces and trying to get the girl to laugh at this inappropriate time. Eventually Ginny Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor with the rest of her family and to a round of applause as the last one sorted.

Once the applause died down Neville's gran Headmistress Longbottom stood to make a speech.

"First I would like to welcome our new students to Hogwarts and I hope that you come to look upon your time here as some of the best. There are a few announcements I need to make. Our returning students are aware we have in the last year gone through some changes to the curriculum, we will be continuing that this year. With a completely revamped subject matter history of magic will now be taught by Emmeline Vance." at this Augusta extended her arm to the regally standing Emmeline, who gave a slight graceful nod.

"This is not the only change available to second years and above we will be offering ritual language learning as both an introduction to benevolent rituals and the subject of runes. I strongly encourage you to participate if only for the first session in which Mr Crouch, who couldn't be with us tonight, will be imparting his knowledge of Latin. The first session will be free but subsequent languages will unfortunately come at a small fee." Augusta continued on after Emmeline gracefully sat down.

"Finally I would like to thank you for your patients and I hope you enjoy the meal." The Headmistress said as the banquet appeared before the students. The most recent announcement had been a surprise for a lot of students and much of the conversation that wasn't about the recent summer activities was about these new lessons.

"I can't wait, I was looking forward to learning French and maybe German in secondary school before I was sent my Hogwarts letter, both my parents speak French, I've been on holiday with them to France a few times when I was younger but I didn't understand much, I wonder what other languages we will have a chance to learn, do you know Neville?" Hermione said in the most Harry had heard her say in one go without taking a breath.

"Err not really Hermione, I've heard of Mr Crouch before though apparently he can speak over a hundred different languages, so we could learn just about any language you care to name from him." Neville said with a shrug not realising just how much more this would excite Hermione.

"Wow with all those languages you would be practically guaranteed a job as a translator in the muggle world, I don't think that's what I want to do but it might be an interesting summer job one year." Hermione mused out loud to herself.

"I don't know there can't be many muggle jobs that look for O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s as a requirement?" Harry said having finished loading his plate while Hermione babbled about languages.

"My mum insisted that if I wanted to come here over a proper secondary school I had to keep up with the core subjects over the summer. It wasn't so bad really; I was never one for outdoor activities over the summer so before first year I did the maths, English and science with a tutor and again this year, so I'm not behind or anything if I want to go to college after Hogwarts. I think my mum kinda wants me to be a dentist too." Hermione said much to the incredulous expression of Harry, and a somewhat disbelieving expression of Neville.

"that sounds like a lot of work Hermione don't you relax at all, you're always reading while you're here and putting that extra amount into your homework and all that extra stuff we did last year with history and the occlumency when do you get any time to rest?" Harry asked.

"It's not that bad really, besides reading is fun." A little defensively, her experience with wanting to learn more had drove people away in primary and she didn't want to lose Harry and Neville's friendship too.

"Nothing wrong with a good book." Neville said not really understanding Hermione's workload. Harry however simply decided to make it his mission to make sure she took some time off from learning from time to time.

Sometime later as the eating had come to a stop the Headmistress rose again.

"Just a few start of school announcements this time. A reminder to the Weasley twins about the forbidden forest being forbidden." She said giving the twins a glare this time.

"The forbidden forest contains any number of dangerous animals and outside of care of magical creatures lessons students are strictly not permitted entry without a teacher present, for your own safety." Augusta said in explanation to first year students.

"there are a few positions open in the quidditch teams this year and the try-outs will be at the discretion of the team captains, please stand up, Oliver Wood, Cedric Diggory, Roger Davies and Marcus Flint, these are the people you need to speak to if you want to try out." the Headmistress said after each of the directed students had stood.

"Finally if you have any problems you can speak to either one of your prefects, prefects stand, your head of house or in the case of medical issues Madam Pomfrey can be found in the hospital wing." She said directing attention to the standing prefects the individual teachers situated at the top of their respective house tables and Madam Pomfrey.

"Now I've kept you long enough and it has no doubt been a long day so if first years would follow your prefects they will direct you to your dorms. Good night" the headmistress said. With that the chaos of leaving the great hall began, with the general thrum of students exiting and the confusion of the first years looking for the prefects for instruction.

After everyone had gone to sleep and Harry was the last one awake, Neville in deep meditation, he got out the stick he had collected during the holidays ready for this moment. Getting out parchment and quill knowing it wouldn't last long he prepared to cast the spell he had read about. Placing the ring carefully on his bedside table and casting the spell on the twig he saw a white aura appear around the twig indicating the spell had worked and was ready to test.

Putting the twig through the hoop of the ring, instantly he was able to see the visible aura change. Where before it were all a clear white it was now a mixture of green, red, blue and a large solid black. This was something of an oddity for Harry, the book he had learned the spell from never mentioned black at all.

Green would be a mind altering component, with it being a mint green; it could only be very mild so it wasn't something Harry was concerned about. Blue was the protective magic stopping the ring from being damaged, lightly what had stopped him damaging it to get the stone out in the first place. Red was indicative of curses and Harry assumed it was the rotting curse that had already eaten the stick he tested it with.

However the vast majority of the magic on the ring was black, obviously Harry assumed that it was bad, and black is hardly a colour that evokes feelings of happy fun times. The problem was the book had nothing on what it could actually mean, but the fact that black had been the main colour that permeated the aura of the stick after testing meant that whatever it was, was the main part of the spell on the ring.

A.N. I put in the part about Hermione continuing her muggle education via tutor because I belive she would have, no way her dentist parents would have both agreed to send Hermione off to a place that would prohibit her from going to university like they both did. I left it at core subjects because I belive that's much more manageable than the entire silibus and also entirely possible that it could be done, one on one teaching of single subjects at a time is much more effective than class based lessons more could be covered and sink in better that way, Hermione being a smart girl I could even have seen her asking for them herself, im aware its something of a cleshay in fanon but still.

A.N. I don't know how well it comes across but I thought with this years sorting song I would horribly mangle the fresh prince theme tune.

A.N. I forgot that they would have ridden the carrages back from Hogwarts to hogsmeed after school last year, but Harry wouldn't have seen the thestrals anyway with haven't not understood that his dreams as a child were of his mothers death so meh deal with it


	21. Second First Impressions

**Chapter 21 – Second first impressions.**

The next morning Harry ended up going to the great hall for breakfast alone, when he awoke from his meditation he found that the boys dorm was already empty. He checked the common room for Hermione but Lavender informed him that she had woken up early and had gone to the library.

Neville was already there when he arrived, Hermione however was still absent even after Harry had finished loading his plate. It wasn't until he started on his hash browns that Hermione came in looking rushed and somewhat flustered.

"You alright, Hermione?" Neville asked.

"Yea, just been to the library, that's all." She informed the boys grabbing a slice of toast.

"What for this time?" Harry asked.

"I wanted to know what the invisible creatures where from last night, thestrals by the way." Hermione said after politely swallowing her mouthful of toast.

"So did you find out why I could see them and you two couldn't?" Harry asked.

"Well apparently the only way to be able to see them is to have witnessed death and to understand its impact. The first part is fairly obvious in that you have to actually see someone die, but the second is fairly ambiguous." Hermione explained.

"that sounds fancy and stuff but I couldn't really tell you what death means to me, so I wouldn't expect it really means all that much." Harry said after thinking about it for a moment, both Hermione and Neville were polite enough not to ask who he had seen die.

Shortly after they had finished their breakfasts Professor McGonagall came and handed out lesson plans. Lessons on the first day back were to be potions and history, so at least they would get to find out what the new teacher was like soon.

Potions, as it turned out was different today as well. Instead of having the class brew a potion like he had every lesson last year Professor Snape, started with a lecture.

"Last year as I am sure even the most hard headed of you must have noticed, consisted of a lot of brewing of simple curative and healing potions. The reasoning for this is because those potions are both useful for you, should you make a mistake brewing and are among the simplest to brew with the least involved process. In short beyond following instructions there was little you needed to know." Professor Snape lectured.

"This year will be much more involved, each week we will still be brewing a potion except this time I will be expecting you to brew those that require more complex instruction. Additionally I will be giving out notes on the more intricate aspects of the potion, that if you take the time to read you will learn a lot from. There will also be homework, this time on the properties of the individual ingredients, how they are lightly to affect a potion and what affects they give the finished potion; it will be research I expect you to do yourself." The professor continued.

"Today will be different however, last year we covered a lot of basic lab safety, what we did not cover was your basic lab apparatus and how it affects a potion. I will be covering much of that today and my hand-outs will focus on that as well. This does not mean that you will not have to take notes so I advise you all to get out your quill and parchment now." Professor Snape said waiting for the class to get their equipment out before starting the lesson in earnest.

"I am going to start with the Cauldron the most basic and the most important part of any potion, every potion from the absolute simplest to the most abstract and complex requires a place to be mixed. You will have noticed when you bought your cauldron that it was listed as standard size two and of pewter construct. Obviously that opens up several questions to the inquisitive mind, what other sizes does it come in? What else can they be made out of? What difference does it make? And finally what is pewter?" The professor said making several students suddenly wonder those exact questions never having bothered to question that before.

"First I will deal with the more obvious one, in size. Cauldrons come in many sizes you may have noticed the ones you use are only slightly bigger than a pumpkin, the idea is that it is big enough to brew a single serving of almost every basic potion you might be expected to brew between now and your O.W.L.s. it is also very portable. There is only one size smaller and it is just slightly bigger than an apple, there are however several larger cauldrons ranging all the way up to giant size three, which is generally used in preparing large quantities of potions for places such as hospitals." The Professor expounded.

"The material used in the construction of a cauldron is important and can differ depending on the potions being brewed. For the vast majority of potions a pewter cauldron will suffice, however for the most potent potions the amount of magic that can be absorbed into the potion during the brewing process via a pewter construct is insufficient, gold cauldrons are ideal if costly solution to this. There are potions where you want as little interference from outside magic as possible and as such stone cauldrons are used, these tend to be for either very subtle or very long brewing potions." Professor Snape said.

"Pewter is a metal alloy consisting mostly of tin with trace amounts of copper and silver, the idea is for it to be as magically conductive as possible whilst still retaining the cheapness of its availability. It used to contain lead but it lead to a rash of lead poisoning in those with persistent complaints requiring regular potion use." The Professor explained.

In that same lesson the professor managed to cover almost the entire potions kit illuminating the entire class on the intricacies of their basic instruments. There was a reason behind the spoon used to stir being made of wood, a reason behind the shape of the cauldron, even a reason a reason for how an ingredient was cut.

At the end of the lesson when the professor gave out his hand-outs it was a surprise that there was so much more information that hadn't been covered in the lesson. Though instead of information on the apparatus its self, it mainly focused on techniques regarding the use of seemingly mundane tools like the potions knife or the mortar and pestle.

In a single lesson Harry, Hermione and Neville had managed to accumulated more notes on potions than they had in almost the entire year in history last year.

It was clear from entering the room that this year history was going to be very different. The walls had been decorated with colourful boards each with a different colourful title above them. When the professor began to talk, despite her regal appearance, she truly had a passion for the history of the wizarding world.

"Today class is going to be different from the rest of the year. Today I want you to group up into groups of four, you will be in these groups all year and will be composing projects as a group to fill the nicely decorated wall space you see around you." She said gesturing at the wall.

"This year I want to focus on one of the most important aspects of somewhat recent history, the statute of secrecy. The S.O.S. is by far the most encompassing law in effect today, it covers everything from magic use in muggle areas as you might expect, all the way to control and regulation of magical creatures. In short anything that might alert the average muggle to the presence of magic." Professor Vance said.

"The vast majority of the ministry's duties revolve around it and its enforcement. It might surprise you to learn that the largest department in the ministry is not in fact the D.M.L.E. the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but is in fact the Obviator's office. An office that focuses entirely on handling cases of muggles seeing wild magical creatures and acts of magic from young children." Vance said much to the shock of many of the purebloods who had assumed the opposite.

"Before the S.O.S. the ministry was almost entirely magical law enforcement, tax collection and educational standards committee. Now they deal with so much more from goblin relations to muggle artefacts, regulation and control of magical creatures, international magical cooperation and another large department the accidental magic reversal squads." Vance elaborated.

"Surprisingly St. Mungos was affected very little, in that while before they treated muggles with magical injury that wouldn't reverse themselves after a time, now they have almost no need to with the accidental magic reversal squads. They do however in cases of large disasters and emergencies help out with muggle injuries." Vance finished.

"As you've heard it had wide ranging and long lasting effects and that is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. What I am going to want from you this term is, in your groups, to research using the libraries resources, the cause or causes of the S.O.S. and its effects on wizarding society." Vance informed the class.

All in all the class had been much more interesting to Harry; it raised a good many questions he had only peripherally thought about. Such as why was magic forbidden around muggles? What happens when someone breaks the statute? And what started all the secrecy, witch burnings, guns, advances in science? It got him interested in the subject again after he had thought it too far gone to be repaired; the same dull teacher having been there for what Harry could tell was a century.

Many of the other classes were of a similar nature with the new curriculum both for the year and in general under the new management of Augusta. Each explaining the years plan and how it would benefit them. Charms, concentrating on relatively low powered illusions, which required more control than last year. Transfiguration on transfiguring larger objects with the goal of working towards head sized objects, hopefully with the at least the amount of detail and complexity they showed last year.

Defence was a bit different Moody never one to coddle his students decided they would alternate between physical classes like the dodging last year and duelling practice. They had been instructed at the end of the first lesson to make sure they all knew the colour changing charm for the next lesson.

The best thing to happen that week had been when Mr Crouch had come one evening after supper for the first ritual language learning lesson. It was at supper on the Friday at the end of the first week Harry noticed something else as well.

Entering the great hall everything seemed normal to him; he carried on his conversation with his friends over the week's lessons and what they enjoyed most. It was as he was reaching out to grab a tureen of roast potatoes that he noticed something odd, a girl near the end of the table with red hair had paused in the middle of lifting up her food to her mouth, mouth open, staring at him. At first he ignored it but when he reached out for the chicken she was still staring at him.

"Hermione, have I got food on my face or something?" he asked quietly after putting the chicken down.

"What? No, why'd you ask?" Hermione asked a bit confused.

"Well don't look but the girl down the table is staring at me, I thought maybe I had a mark on my face." Harry said, catching Neville's attention too.

"Hrmm, that's Ron's sister Ginny." Neville said observing said girl go back to eating, cheeks slightly flushed as the girl next to her tapped her. Dinner continued on till the headmistress stood to make an announcement.

"I would like your attention please, thank you. Today Mr Crouch will be arriving to perform the ritual language learning session. We will be breaking it up in to year groups to make a manageable size for the ritual. I highly advise those who are nervous or curious from lower years to watch as the ritual is preformed starting with the seventh years." The Headmistress said as dinner was winding down.

It wasn't long after the announcement that dinner came to an end. It had ended when she had made the announcement for all intents and purposes, with the amount of excited chatter going on it couldn't be possible to be eating as well. It only took moments for the room to be cleared ready for the ritual.

It started with the arrival of Mr Crouch, his entrance to the hall at exactly seven thirty; just seconds after the tables had been removed seemed almost choreographed, it was so well timed. His demeanour upon entering the room was one of authority, clearly he was used to having his instructions followed.

"Everyone please form groups ordered in year order starting with the seventh years at this end of the hall, descending to first years at that end." Barty instructed not even bothering to introduce himself. After a lot of shuffling and rearranging of students the hall was ordered how he wanted it.

"Now pay attention I will only be explaining this once for this ritual, in every session after this it will simply be the ritual no lesson." Barty explained, prompting Hermione and a few others, mainly Ravenclaws, to get writing materials out of their bags.

"The ritual of language transferal is a complex ritual, it first came about in the sixth century and is believed to be the origin of such abilities as parseltongue. Obviously it didn't spring about in its current form there are more safe guards now to prevent brain damage from information overload common with the original version, it is also the reason you will need to speak the language over the next week and why you can't learn another right away." Crouch stated with barely more enthusiasm than Binns had had for history.

"The ritual circle begins with the essence of the ritual, one too many, we are transferring the knowledge from one mind, mine, to all of yours, many. From here we move outward incorporating what we want many of, these runes surrounding the central rune circle represent understanding and a little further out communication." Mr Crouch provided as he spelled chalk runes on the hall floor not lowering him to bend and do it by hand, clearly it would be undignified for a man of his stature.

"Now in the final around the final circle these runes are all about protection and powering the ritual. There are several layers of protection some involving not taking too much power from each of you, others preventing information overload as I mentioned earlier. The powering runes are complex too Hogwarts being under wards these runes mainly draw on your power and the very little ambient magic available not used by the wards. Those of you taking ancient runes may notice some of these are paired together, this is to make sure none of the magic gathered is tainted, I.E. already a spell." Mr Crouch went on pointing to the rune clusters in the now large circle in the middle of the hall as he did.

"Finally the last major component of the ritual besides the magic is the language; again some of you may have noticed no language is specified in the circle. That is because the circle has been refined over generations in different languages, simply put it is the part of the one to decided what understanding of communication the many receive, despite the power coming from the many." Crouch finished his description of the circle he had created in just moments.

"Now seventh years please step forwards and take a robe from the staff table, there is a room off to the side in which you can get changed. When you return make sure you have no magical objects, enchanted or otherwise on your person, this includes your wand, I am sure a member of staff will be willing to hold it for you during the ritual." Crouch instructed, pointing to the door beside the staff table.

It didn't take long for the seventh years to return, each changed into a plain robe of presumably their house colour, and Harry had half expected them to be black and hooded. Once they had all filtered into the room Mr Crouch continued his instruction.

"Please take a spot around the ritual circle between the boundaries of the outer most and the next circle in, taking care not to smudge the chalk." As the students took care to find themselves a space Barty took his own in the centre of the circle.

"Now you will notice I am standing in the centre, over the runes within the centre circle are collectively representative of one to many but again set up so that the central rune I am standing over means individual and those surrounding it mean countless. It is done in such a way to continually reinforce the rituals intent, even the smallest blocker or distraction in a ritual can cause it to fail, and when rituals fail it is often in a spectacular and unpleasant manner. It would be advised you not go out and just try any untested, untrusted ritual without proper research they can often be deadly if preformed with the incorrect intent." Crouch finished even more seriously than he had been before.

Barty checked the circle over one more time making sure the students were all in the right position and that none of the runes had been damaged, before readying himself. Standing up he took a small plain silver dagger from his pocket and pricked his index finger of his left hand. Squeezing it to get some blood to appear on it, before he bent down and traced the very centre rune.

As soon as he had finished tracing the rune it lit up bright red, followed by several other runes leading out to the students in the outer circle. As the lines of red lit runes reached the students you could see a clear indicator of discomfort cross their visage, shortly after the rest of the runes lit up this time in green and in the opposite direction until they reached Crouch in the centre. As lit runes reached the inner circle Mr Crouch opened his mouth wide as if screaming, but instead of sound a green mist came out, swiftly followed by his eyes and ears joining it.

The mist seemed to increase in volume as it got closer to the outer circle, as it reached the feet of each student it seemed to rise up and snake around each of them searching for an opening. As it rose to their heads it reared back and snapped forwards forcing its way into their orifices, mainly their mouth and ears but some went in the eyes, oddly completely avoiding the nose, Harry noticed.

Once the mist had forced its way inside each of the students the glow of the runes died down, taking with it the chalk that had been used to make them, leaving the floor as bare as when they had started. Most of the students were breathing heavily or had bent down to recover from having the mist forced into them, and from the drain on their magic. After everyone had gathered their breath and stood up, Mr Crouch addressed them again.

"As you can see its quiet tiring for the participants, besides my schedule it is other reason we arranged this to be at the end of the day. You will find that after a good night's sleep you will wake up feeling much better. It's common for the first six to twelve hours to be dizzy and disoriented, its nothing to be worried about; such side effects should desist after a day. However for the next day or two it may be difficult to distinguish witch language you are speaking, once it settles in this will stop leaving you able to pick and choose what you speak." Mr Crouch finished his lecture for the student body at large

The Headmistress came forward and took over for Mr Crouch as the other staff members directed the now clearly tiered students back to the changing room.

"After the seventh years have changed back in to their school robes, and I think left for bed we will continue on with the sixth years and so on. First years a now free to leave and perhaps finish any homework they might have outstanding as they won't be participating in any ritual." Once the headmistress was finished she handed Mr Crouch a towel witch he used to wipe away the sweat gathered on his brow.

The process was repeated several times; the students finished looking increasingly worn out as time went on. In less than an hour it was the second years turn, Hermione had grown increasingly excited and nervous all at the same time. Wondering both what it would be like to learn another language like they had seen and whether or not it would hurt. None of the students that had participated in the ritual had stayed to talk all of them shuffling off to bed as soon as they had returned from the changing room; it had led to an air of nervousness amongst the remaining students.

After being led to the changing room and swapping his school robes for these plain ritual robes Harry and Neville were led back to the main hall to meet up with Hermione and the girls, having changed in different rooms. Mr Crouch was now clearly tired after five rituals and as much has he tried to hold his decorum it showed as he directed them to take their places as they had seen others do. He barely even gave the students a proper check as he had the elders, before he started the ritual.

The first thing Harry noticed was pull on his magic, it was like gravity had been increased fourfold for an instant, he did his best not to give into it and to remain standing. He was the only one able, as with the third years the ritual required most of the magic available to them and a hefty amount from Mr Crouch, hence his tiredness.

His focus on remaining standing and not giving in to the urge to drop, Harry had failed to notice the mist approaching until it was right in front of his face. In his shock he gasped at almost exactly the wrong time leading him to want to cough out the mist he had inhaled doing so, the sensation was almost like choking but was forcibly prolonged and increasingly uncomfortable as the mist forced its way in. panicking about breathing the sudden rush of information was ignored but the dizziness that accompanied it was amplified, when the mist stopped he dropped to one knee with a hand on the floor just to steady himself as his inner ears rebalanced themselves and he caught his breath.

There wasn't much said between friends let alone anyone else as the group slowly trudged after the teachers to the changing room and then barely noticing their wands passed back to them as they left the hall. So tiered were they that they barely noticed the common room only had first years in it, taking advantage of their time as king of the hill. They hadn't even noticed Mr Crouch setting up for one final ritual for the teachers on their way out, it wouldn't do to have the students back chatting professors without them the wiser after all.

A.N. the ritual was hard to wright I'm not even sure if it comes across how I meant it to either, but I avoided the stuff going in the nose because there is no smell component to understanding Latin if that makes sense to anyone else. I also wanted to make it clear that not only is Mr crouch pretty powerful but the ritual while controlled by him wasn't powered by him like an ignition spark in a car, powered by battery car run by petrol.


	22. The Busy Week

Chapter 22 – The Busy Week

The weekend following the ritual Harry had some time to himself no real homework been given out yet, he had been thinking about his aunt and the change in her behaviour since the confrontation in the summer. She truly had seemed to make an effort, she hadn't just demanded he be ok with her previous behaviour, as Harry would have believed her to have done, instead she was carefully treading ground, small steps at a time. A thanks here, a glass of juice there, a gentle hand on his shoulder as she passed him working. If he was honest with himself it was kind of nice, but he was conflicted in that he didn't want to so easily welcome her into his life after the neglect he had suffered at her hands.

He wasn't sure she deserved the sentiment though clearly he had been partially responsible, hearing his aunt describe it, his aura of ignore had contributed to his neglect. Who was he really hurting denying her the chance to make amends, her, she had other family to seek comfort in. It had been kind of nice to hear about his mother if only from a jealous sisters prospective, perhaps she could be someone he could confide in. with that in mind he was writing her a letter, in his free time.

_Dear Aunt Petunia._

_ Over the summer it was kind of nice to spend time with you and I know it can't have been easy for you so I want to thank you for that. I also want to apologise I didn't exactly make it easy for you, both before summer and during._

_For a long time I have had some control over my magic, I've kind of been using it to make you, Vernon and Dudley ignore me and any other magic I've done. I've looked into that kind of magic since I got here though and it's not as simple as that, I couldn't have made you ignore me if you hadn't already wanted to on some level and you had before that mostly ignored me I simply wanted you to ignore the magic I used as well._

_ I'm sorry._

Suddenly there was a flash blinding Harry for a few second.

"ouch." Harry said rubbing his eyes and attempting to look around for the cause of his pain. Eventually he laid his blurry eyes on the culprit, a brown haired young lad with a huge camera and accompanying flash that was bigger than his head.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I just wanted a photo of the famous Harry Potter to send home and show me dad. I'm Collin by the way Collin Creevey." The shorter than average first year said excitedly barely remembering to introduce himself.

"urgh, yea well, please don't, I'm nothing special really and if you read those stupid books about me just know I'm not some sort of superhero or something I'm just Harry Potter, school kid, nothing more." Harry said a bit more forcefully than the kid probably deserved but, it brought up the memory of those fiction books his company had published.

"Oh sorry, I figured you would be used to it, I didn't think, sorry. I just wanted a picture to show my dad I've taken loads of Hogwarts already. One of the fifth year prefects said if I develop them in a special potion they will move, imagine that moving photos." Collin said starting off sorry and quickly getting distracted by his hobby, perhaps obsession.

"Yea, Collin we have those in the muggle world too, remember." Harry said an idea forming in his mind as he looked back to his letter.

"Hey Collin, can you do me a favour, can I get copies of your Hogwarts photos, I wanna send my aunt some too?" Harry asked Collin.

"Mmm, ok sure Harry. But if you don't mind could I get a real photo of you to show my dad?" Collin replied asked speaking at a normal speed for the first time since he approached Harry.

"Sure, I guess that's fair." Harry replied. Spotting Neville across the common room, Harry called him over and quickly explained the situation, getting him to take the photo.

He went back to the letter going on to inform his aunt of the new development and that he would be sending her some photos with his next letter. He however didn't get to send it before he was informed by a prefect that his presence was requested by the headmistress.

It wasn't until he actually got to the headmistress's office that he realised he probably wasn't in trouble. He had been worried about it all the way from the dorms, being escorted by prefect hadn't helped.

After ascending the spiral staircase to her office he took a moment to take in the room before heading to the seat in front of Augusta's desk. The room not that he would know it differed greatly from when its previous occupant held the position.

The bookshelves that surround the room had been covered over with a curtain, which while Albus had been there had been on display or in frequent use. It had the effect of making the untidy room look much neater and more cosy and inviting. The desk instead of holding obscure relics and brass instruments now merely had a writing pad and a photo frame facing the headmistress. In fact there was very little in the room to distract from its purpose as an office and meeting place, the portraits of the previous headmasters had also been concealed with a curtain.

No sooner had he sat than the headmistress dismissed the prefect, waiting for him to leave the room before talking to Harry.

"Harry I want to talk to you about your agreement to help teach a few students here wandless magic." She started; waiting to make sure she had his full attention, receiving a nod in return.

"Now I want to stress this is all voluntary and you don't have to do this, but I have come up with an outline for what we want." She continued again waiting for Harry to acknowledge what she had said.

"I am hopeful that you can teach, under observation, maybe three or four, second or first years to preform magic without a wand as you did Hermione and my grandson. I've spoken to Neville and from what he said it didn't take long for the pair of them to get at least the basic ability down and that's all we're asking from you. I don't expect you to teach them everything about it only to help them get a grasp on the ability, does that sound fair to you?" the headmistress asked.

"Phew, I'm kinda relived about that, I didn't really think I had the option to say no when you asked. I was thinking about it a lot over the summer and it made it so much worse all I could think of was standing in the great hall everyone looking at me expecting me to teach them all how to do magic. But if it's just a few people around my own age I think I can manage that." Harry said feeling an almost literal weight lifted from his mind.

"oh no, we wouldn't want anything like that from you just one or two lessons, we wouldn't want to impact on your own learning or your free time too much, we might have to pay you if we did." The headmistress joked with a fond smile for Harry.

"I can't tell you how much of a relief that is, I want to try out for the quidditch team this year and I was worried I wouldn't have time with all the extra stuff I've agreed to do." Harry said.

The meeting went on the pair of them hammering out the details of the planned lesson Augusta helping the boy put his ideas into order. Eventually they decided upon an hour lesson on Wednesday evening after tea, with students to be picked from first and second year based on their class performance.

On his way back to the dorms he decided to get achemides to deliver his letter to his aunt before he was interrupted again. When he reached the dorms he was surprised at the commotion around the notice board, several of the older more athletic looking students and a few hopeful looking younger ones had gathered round apparently excited about something.

When he finally made it to the front of the group as others filtered out having got what they wanted he found out why there was such excitement, announcement of the quidditch trails. The position open for the Gryffindor's was the seeker position, it was open to anyone, no broom necessary and would be held on Tuesday evening after tea, so that a decision could be made before the first game of the season.

Leaving the common room to find Hermione and Neville, to relax and tell them about his plans, Harry was assaulted by Albus's phoenix Fawkes, appearing in a plume of fire, delivering his letter with a cheerful chirp and disappearing the same way. Harry stowed the letter away to read later, thinking to try the library for his friends.

It was almost bed time before he remembered about the letter from Albus, having spent the day with his friends in the library, reading and eventually out in the last of the summer sun, relaxing. He wished he hadn't when he read the letter it was quiet important and he could have done with his friends input on the matter.

_Dear Harry._

_ I have looked into the issue of the books you mentioned, you are correct in that recalling all the copies is impossible. However with the letter you sent me I have been able to make progress on your behalf unfortunately it comes with its own set of problems._

_ I discovered when I didn't receive a reply by mail to my correspondence, that the manager has apparently been using your company to publish his own series of books and was responsible for the series about you. Not only that but he has apparently been embezzling funds, unfortunately the letter I sent to ascertain the situation alerted him to his discovery and he fled._

_ Unfortunately this leaves two problems. Frist is the lack of a manager for your families printing business. Second is that I was unfortunately unable to keep this from the media and it's lightly that over the next few days you will see the story in The Prophet. The best advice I can give you for dealing with this is to simply tell the truth, you have nothing to hide in this matter and you have done nothing wrong._

_ I can do no more to help in this matter without further written permission from you, a new manager needs to be selected, a press statement issued and an investigation started. I am willing to handle this for you and keep you informed but I don't have time to take on the manager position, my other responsibilities are quiet time consuming. _

_ A quick reply would be advantageous in this matter._

_Sincerely_

_Albus Dumbledore._

A reply would have to wait until morning now and with Archimedes already away delivering his letter to his aunt he would have to use a school owl too.

Dumbledore was correct too in his prediction that it would soon be in the papers. At breakfast the next day when the morning paper arrived with a picture of a man on the cover of a book plastered on the front page. Just looking at the black and white photo on the paper Harry was sure the wizard had used magic to make his teeth that shiny.

_**Embezzlement, Fraud and Fame.**_

_Famous wizarding adventurer Gilderoy Lockhart, it turns out is in fact a fraud. More than that he used the Potter heir's absence from the wizarding world to place himself at the top of the families printing company, eventually making off with over a hundred thousand galleons._

_It started sometime eight years ago, the potter family printing press in jeopardy from lack of a cohesive management since their unfortunate demise. In came Gilderoy, looking quite different from his appearance today, with nothing more than a letter signed apparently by the then four year old Harry, granting him authority to run the place._

_It didn't take this cunning thief long to start a series of books on the much glamourized life of the young Harry Potter. But the profit from this enterprise wasn't enough he wanted more and he wanted the fame for himself, with the use of several expensive beautifying potions, a few trips abroad for research Gilderoy Lockhart was reborn as we knew him._

_This reporter has already uncovered the truth about two of his books, a dark and terrible truth. Before he began his life of crime Gilderoy was an obliviator for the M.o.M. and he made use of his training in that area to interrogate and then obliviate the actual heroes behind his stories._

_Where is he now you ask, prison, Azkaban? No dear readers in fact he made his escape just hours before Albus Dumbledore (once famed headmaster of Hogwarts) arrived to investigate the situation on behalf of the young Mr Potter. It became clear to this writer after a short conversation with Albus Dumbledore that in attempting to contact the manager of Potter Printing that he inadvertently tipped of the criminal._

_For more on Albus's blunders pg.4_

_For more the life of Gilderoy Lockhart pg.5_

_For more on the true stories behind his works pg.6_

_For more on Oblivation pg.7_

_Article written by Rita Skeeter._

The paper wasn't the only thing he received in the mail, he had in fact been contacted by Rita for his side of the story there had been several questions even asking if he would be tested for oblivations. It made him quiet uneasy that his memory and his authority could be potentially stolen or forged so easily.

He quickly rushed upstairs hardly even touching his breakfast, his friend following swiftly behind him seeing something clearly wrong. When he reached the common room his friends caught up and began asking him what was wrong.

"What's wrong Harry?" Hermione asked grabbing Harry to impede his movement, hoping to get him to stop and talk.

"This." Harry said pushing the paper he had still clutched in his hand to her.

Skimming it quickly Hermione determined what Harry was upset about quickly and passed the paper over to Neville, for him to read it and to keep it away from Harry.

"It's not that bad Harry, it's not as if you could have done anything to stop it, you're the victim here not the culprit." Hermione said trying to get through to Harry, who was clearly angry at himself, his fists clenching every few seconds as if wanting to hit something.

"you don't get it Hermione, I started all this, I just wanted those stupid books to stop and now look, everyone's going to see me as some poor helpless little lamb that can't look after himself." Harry said angrily.

"Harry, I don't mean to be indelicate here but you're twelve, you're not meant to be able to look after yourself yet." Hermione said trying to calm him down.

"I wouldn't worry about it mate, grans always saying how Rita is always stirring up trouble and making things seem worse than they are. Gran said it sells papers, she said it's always worse on the front page and then explained further in to make you buy the paper." Neville explained to Harry.

"Pheefffft, your right, I'm sorry, just I'm not used to all this and just when I think I've got a way to sort it out this happens. I've got to write Dumbledore and see if he can help clean this mess up." Harry said grabbing his writing materials out of his bag, not noticing Hermione indicate to Neville to stay with him.

In his hastily written letter to Albus Harry had at least had time to ask the question that had been bugging him since he heard that ritual language learning was on Hogwarts lessons previously. Why did they stop? Albus as the person responsible for that would know and it would at least distract him from the chaos of this Lockhart mess.

Even the lessons the next week were intense especially Moody's, with his duelling class. Last week he had instructed them all to learn a simple colour changing spell ready for the next lesson. The interesting thing about the spell, at least the version Moody had instructed them to learn, was that the bolt of the spell would be the intended colour of the change the spell preformed. His idea behind this would be so that eventually he could teach the student's witch colours are generally more dangerous and how badly injured them might be at the end of a duel.

Indeed when the second years arrived in his class Moody had something different in store for them and they could tell. The class instead of the desks had been cleared and seemed much bigger than usual. Not just that but there were walls and wooden boxes and large rocks strain around the room. While the entire class seemed to gather around the entrance looking round the room distracted Moody decided now was the time to address them all.

"As you can all clearly see today is going to be different." Moody boomed out startling the second years out of the daze. "instead of our usual lesson we will be having practice duels, so I hope you all learned the colour changing charm I instructed you to last lesson as anyone who can't demonstrate it will not get to participate." This time looking round for anyone looking guilty of not learning it, seeing none he continued.

"This lesson I am going to split you into two groups, red and blue. The idea is you use the colour changing charm to change the colour of members of the other team's robes to your colour. In doing so that person is now on your team, the game will continue on till everyone is on one team. You can use shields and all the obstacles in the room to avoid incoming spells." Moody explained the game to them.

The teams were pretty random, Moody simply walked into the group tapping each student with his wand as he passed them, changing their robes alternately. There was a bit of a scramble at the back of some of the boys trying to manipulate their team colour as Moody approached them.

The game it's self was the most fun Harry, could ever remember having. The same was not true of Hermione; it was like being back in P.E. in primary school, as she spent most of her time in the library reading outside of school she wasn't as physically fit as other children her age. The games played in P.E. often found her picked fairly close to last and resulted in her usually standing to the side avoiding the action. In the game that wasn't an option.

Barely two minutes into the game she had already swapped teams three times, something she found confusing and stressful. Every time she was tagged by the spell she had a moment of panic when she realised she needed to be on the opposite side of the obstacle she had chosen and that she needed to change the colour she was shooting. She barely got a shot or two off from her new position before she was hit from an angle she didn't see before or by someone who had been turned from behind.

Neville was doing better than Hermione, but that was mainly due to him finding a good spot in which he was surrounded by cover on both sides with walls on the other sides. He wasn't having as much fun as Harry seemed to be who was occasionally running from one item of cover and dive rolling like he had seen in movies while shooting at the other team.

After the first game, lasting about six minutes, Harry could clearly see Hermione wasn't having as much fun, her face was red and her hair was even more out of control than normal.

"What's wrong, you not having fun?" Harry asked Hermione.

"No I'm not." Hermione answered as though it should have been obvious, she had been tagged several more times and had begun to feel victimized by the end of the round.

"It's just a game Hermione, relax and enjoy it, don't take it too seriously." Harry said trying to help.

"Easy for you to say you were really good at it." Hermione said harshly, taking some of her frustrations out on Harry.

"Fine how about this then, next time stick with me and every time you get tagged I'll tag you back." Harry said trying to make things better.

"fine." Hermione answered pointedly.

They weren't the only ones to have teamed up either it was clear as soon as the next game began there was several groups of children working together. Harry moved around a lot less now but still enjoyed being silly with his diving behind cover as Hermione followed him, Neville actively covering them from his corner spot he managed to get again. They had more fun this time around as a group than they did before.

The next day was the quidditch trails and Harry wanted to be well rested for it, he was pretty excitable the entire day almost all of transfiguration went past him without his attention. Dinner wasn't much better with everyone in Gryffindor, with even a slight interest in the sport talking about the evening's trails.

When the time came he was relieved to find Neville and Hermione wanted to accompany him for support, even if Hermione didn't like the game and Neville himself wouldn't be trying out.

It was being held at the quidditch pitch and upon arriving Harry was surprised how many were there to test for a single position, it must have been half of all Gryffindor students. It wasn't until he got closer that he realised what was going on, most were there to like Hermione and Neville lend support to their friends. There were only seven actual potential seekers; the rest of the crowed was made up by the current team.

After the chaos of separating out contenders from spectators things progressed much smoother. Wood, the captain of the team unfurled a bunch of brooms he had brought and lined them up in front of each of the potential seekers; all of them school broom, Cleansweep fours. There was clear disappointment on the faces of some of the older students when it was clear they wouldn't be able to use their own brooms.

"Listen up!" Wood shouted getting all of their attentions. "All of you are here to try out for the position of seeker, one of the most important positions on the squad. Seekers are unique amongst the quidditch positions in that they work almost exclusively alone, with only minor help from beaters and occasional interference plays. That doesn't mean you don't need to be able to work well with the team as such we will run a few basic drills, the idea being to make sure you can all actually fly for a start and more so to make sure you can work as part of a team." There was a bit of shuffling about of the potentials here as clearly they all thought it was a bit insulting to their abilities.

"first I'm going to put you all through what I like to make the team do for warm ups, just a few lengths of the pitch with some sharp turns and altitude changes thrown in. the team will be joining you so don't worry." At this there was an audible groan from several of the team members.

Lining up they each took to the air following the team mimicking the movements of Oliver as he swerved dived and climbed. It was much harder than it looked the moves he performed were each something expected of at least one position on the team, dives from the seeker, swerving from everyone but mostly the chasers for dodging bludgers. The moves themselves were stressful on the body especially climbing just after a dive as all the downward force immediately transferred to an upward climb put a lot of pressure on the rider.

After the thorough warm up there was no one that was clearly unable to fly Wood moved on to the next stage of his testing.

"Now I know you've all seen a game of quidditch before and you're all trying out for the seeker position. Seekers have to be several things and as much as it pains me to say this they also have to be lucky. For all that keen eyesight and an observant nature helps without at least a little luck you're still not going to catch the snitch. That's why I have devised this next test." Here he motioned for one of the team members to bring something forwards.

"In this box are three snitches inside one of them is a piece of parchment whichever of you catches the snitch with parchment in will get the position. Fred and George, our beaters will entertain us all by attempting to knock you off and distract you so be careful and good luck." He said opening the box and releasing the snitches, there was a moment of confusion were no one was sure they should lift off and get started before they did.

In taking off Harry was only peripherally aware of the audience giving a cheer now the real test was beginning. He was far too engrossed in the feeling of flying, in the air he wasn't just in control he was free, free of worry, free of stress and free of gravity. Up here he was the hunter and for now the snitch was his prey, he would prove himself the best hunter, faster than any other.

Indeed only two minutes in he had already spotted one of the snitches, with no desire to be subtle and no way of knowing if it was the one he needed or not he dived for it. His dive didn't go unnoticed by everyone else either, a few of the potentials noticed it and so too did the Weasley twins. While the potentials followed the line of his dive to try and find his target the twins had made to knock him off course with a bludger.

Harry didn't care for anything else only his prey, the other players in the sky simply obstacles to manoeuvre around as he smoothly passed behind one of the less observant potentials making the aimed bludger hit him instead. Reaching out he snatched the fluttering golden ball out of the air landing smoothly shortly after, unfortunately when checked by Oliver it turned out not to be the right one.

There was an almost palpable air of relief from the other potentials as Harry took to the air again, this time though everyone was paying much more attention. It didn't matter to Harry the other potentials might as well have been pigeons for all difference they made to him, no more important than the scenery in his hunt. He of course observed some of them diving for what they thought were the snitch, but he quickly determined it was just the light reflecting of glass or metal and hadn't bothered to move.

It was another ten minutes later having avoided several attempts at knocking him off from the twins, with only a minor adjustment of his position as though the cannon ball whizzing past him was barely important, before he spotted another snitch. This time rather than alert the now warmed up competition he continued his lap of the field, getting into position directly above the snitch before launching into a vertical dive so steep that there were several screams from the watching crowed who assumed he wouldn't be able to pull up in time. Again none of it penetrated Harry's awareness as he focused on the evasive golden ball, that this time made a brake for it, as if sensing its imminent capture.

It lead Harry on a merry chase under the bleachers and through the trenches surrounding the pitch before he caught it. In doing so the sound of the world was suddenly turned back on and Harry noticed that at least two of the other seekers that had tried to follow him had ended up clothe-lined on the wooden beams supporting the bleachers. Wood's examination of this snitch revealed Harry to be the new seeker for the Gryffindor team.

After a quick conversation with Wood informing him that training would be on Saturday morning at six in the morning and that he was expected to get his own broom before the first match in October, Harry left to celebrate with his friends. When informing Hermione and Neville both were pleased for him Neville was positively gushing about Harry's vertical dive and subsequent chase of the snitch, saying it was reminiscent of a professional seeker from Puddlemere United, Hermione simply smiled enjoying her friends being happy.

Wednesday was an important day for several people, not that Harry new it but it would be one for him too. Outside of Hogwarts wheels had been turning and the next meeting of the wizengamot was due.

Between the last meeting and this one Luscious Malfoy had been busy. Blackmail is ugly, more importantly it allows for your puppet to free themselves of your instructions, manipulation of facts to fit fears is much more effective at motivating the powerful to action, especially when their power is threatened.

Malfoy Sr. had been busy over the last month visiting several important and influential men and woman, not all of whom had seats on the wizengamot but a whisper in the ear of the right person could quickly find its way to the right target and often without the taint of his name to those who hated him as their neutral source's repeated his ideas as their own. By suggesting that the ministry had become so corrupt that they could put a pureblood lord, a should be wizengamot member in Azkaban without so much as a mock trail, well that was enough to make several of those who believed themselves clever to see a plot where only incompetence existed.

It stroked the egos of the powerful to believe they saw something no one else did, Luscious, knowing this and knowing that coming to a conclusion on their own rather than it being told to them was much more powerful had simply lead discussions with people in such a way that they each believed that they had come to the final destination first.

So when the issue of getting his cousin Sirius a trail was raised to the wizengamot it was quickly passed successfully. There had been several reasons for this, almost no one had the same reason for wanting the trail, and some wanted justice done, weather it was that his punishment is harsher for his crimes rather than prison. Others wanted to see a pureblood that should have had a trail to be able to defend himself, another faction wanted to see him exonerated for what they saw as little more than collateral damage while misbehaving. That they all agreed to have the trail was a masterpiece of manipulation on Luscious part, next he would simply have to ensure the right people got the blame and his election would be all but assured.

Thursday wasn't an important day but it was at least an interesting one. Astronomy, a class that had quickly become very boring to most of the class with almost the solitary exception of Hermione, was different. Oh they still charted the major stars and observed their auras, only today Professor Sinistra gave a lecture and demonstrated with a simplified version of the Arithmency how the stars had affected their ritual last week.

"Ok class, I know that astronomy isn't seen as a particularly interesting or vital subject by a lot of the students yourselves included no doubt." The Professor started giving the class a little smile when she admitted that she was aware of the general view of her chosen subject.

"however, today I'm going to show you just how important it is to pay at least some attention to the stars if you want to preform even so well refined a ritual as the one all participated in last week." This got a lot of the students who normally barely paid attention in the class to at least look up.

"Last week if you remember Mars was dim and its aura was pale, while not vital for your ritual, it was at least fortuitous. Had Mars, a symbol of conflict, been bright your ritual while successful would have almost certainly left you all with a headache for several days. This is all demonstrated by this section of arithmency here. "She informed the class pointing to a section of nearly incomprehensible section of maths on a pre-prepared full blackboard. Hermione at least was attempting to copy out the formula to annotate her own version.

"The Moon was also while not full, was certainly bright with a yellow hue. Another positive sign for the ritual this affected the completeness of your absorption of Mr Crouch's knowledge of Latin. Though a dull moon with an unfavourable hue wouldn't have left you without the understanding, it would perhaps limit your vocabulary to the more familiar words, in his. This is represented by this larger section here." Again pointing to a section of the board, while she observed the students clearly finding it much more fascinating than her normal lessons, something she was pleased with.

The lesson when on much the same with her explaining how last week's stars affected the ritual, covering everything from power requirements to retention length of the information. Overall it made for the first time students had excitedly talked about astronomy in almost as long as she had been teaching there. Not that she felt her subject was boring only that without something to personally relate it to or see how it might affect them; it was hard to get students truly interested.

Friday was the first time since they had returned to school that Harry, Hermione and Neville had visited Professor Snape to discuss their occlumency. It wasn't a particularly long meeting either when they each informed him that they had reached the stage where they had begun to dream again, he had simply asked them to come back tomorrow during the day so that he could prepare for the next stage of training them in occlumency.

A.N. people seem to keep coming back to why Harry didn't just rip information out of people's heads again and its getting annoying, not only can he not remember exactly how it felt to do said action having been immediately traumatised by the following information overload, potential brain damage but more importantly like a rat learning not to step gnaw on an electrified cage so too did Harry learn not to try something so stupid again, also the ritual overview will have informed him why it was so dangerous to try to learn via forcefully pulling information from other people's heads. I will probably cover legilemency later.

A.N. I lost track already of witch order the classes were in on the first week but then I also didn't write down a schedule like I did for first year even if I didn't pay much attention to it and as I explicitly state in this chapter that they have defence on Monday despite clearly having it later in the week they must apparently have more than one per week.

A.N. as I said before I think of defence against the dark arts as P.E. oddly the game idea came to me as I was writing the paragraph in which it was introduced :S


	23. Trail of the Decade

Chapter 23 – Trail of the Decade.

With the vote passing, the wind up to the trail of Sirius Black was a media storm in witch Lucius Malfoy manage to get a good many headlines as the defender of justice, in that even if guilty it would still reflect on him well. Rather than go with the wrongfully imprisoned angle the right words had ensured that the Prophet had put the current administration at fault despite them not having been in power at the time of the incarceration.

There had been several interviews Lucius coming across as a concerned citizen. Fudge the current minister had been having a harder time, despite telling the truth, that it wasn't his administration that made the mistake and that he was doing everything in his power to see it corrected, it came across in the actual articles as placating nonsense. Almost everything he had said had been ignored in favour of sensationalising what was turning out to be the most influential trail since the end of the war, perhaps more so.

On the day of the trail Lucius had planned the whole thing out, the order in he would call witnesses, and the questions he would ask them, in what order, how best to play on the fears of the jury. He even planned on the best entrance to make and how to ensure a quick decision in his favour.

That was why after the court had assembled, everyone waiting for the defence to show up, press in the gallery, Lucius and Sirius made their entrance, late. It was late so that everyone in the gallery press and civilians alike would see the difficulty Sirius had in walking after his long unjust incarceration and so that they could see Lucius offer him a shoulder to lean on as he walked to the defence chair.

It was quiet brilliant, it offered the judge no room to complain, less his compassion be called into question, but also showed Malfoy as a crutch to those in need. By waiting till they were late too it implied that it had been difficult for Sirius to even get there at all, but most importantly it meant that all the press would already be there and would get photos of it, along with the image sticking in the jury's minds ensuring sympathy.

The trail was to be slated to be about the guilt of Sirius black, but Lucius intended to call several witnesses that, while not strictly related to his innocence or guilt would show the faults of the current ministry, it was to be a play were only he knew everyone's lines and none of the actors did. He knew it already possible to show without a shadow of a doubt that Sirius was innocent his investigations after the visit to the prison had turned up all the evidence he needed.

"Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore, presiding over the case of Sirius Black and the events of October thirty first to the night of November the first." Announced Dumbledore standing at his elevated position, drawing the room to a hush.

"Representative for the Defence, Lucius Malfoy." Lucius said playing his part if the scene.

"Representative for The Crown, Pius Thicknesse, Department of Magical Law enforcement." A Slimy looking tall man with long slick back black hair and a short goatee said standing after Lucius.

"Opening statement for the defence" Albus called conducting the scene

"We are here today not only to prove that Sirius Black was wrongfully imprisoned without just cause, but that he was innocent of any crime to begin with. The witnesses we will be hearing from today will demonstrate that in the round up of the end of the war, corners were cut and a man who had just lost his closest friends ended up in Azkaban." Lucius said addressing the jury ensuring he had their attention as he did so, sitting back down as he finished. This was another move, it was intended to provoke a response from the prosecution distract from any planned opening they may already have.

"Opening statement for the prosecution." Albus instructed.

"Let us not forget this isn't about the possible miscarriage of justice ten years ago, this is about a man found at the scene of thirteen muggle deaths, the finger of Peter Pettigrew. A man accused of betraying the Potter family to their deaths" Pius said, his opening had indeed been changed, by rebutting the attempt at derailing the trails focus he had inadvertently ruined his own opening as Lucius had intended. He had left the jury with an incomplete idea of his argument; his intention had been to set the scene of Sirius's capture before focusing on the crimes he was accused of.

"Will the defence call their first witness please?" Albus instructed.

"Defence calls Rubeus Hagrid." Lucius called, as the large man stomped down to the witness box at the front of the court.

"Can you tell me of the events of the evening of October thirty first, nineteen eighty one, in which you interacted with the defendant Sirius Black?" Lucius asked having already heard Sirius's side needing the court to hear it from a voice other than the defendant.

"well I got a floo call from Dumbledore, ta go pick little Harry up, that the Potter's had been attacked n' that he was sorting out somewhere for 'arry ta stay. When I came through the floo I realised I was at his cottage in Godric's hollow not his office like I'd thought, he told me to go pick up 'arry an ta meet him. Err I'm not supposed to say where Harry's living now is that alright?" Hagrid asked unsure of how to continue.

"As long as it has no bearings on the case, in this case it doesn't, Mr Hagrid." Dumbledore informed his friend.

"Oh, right so he asked me to meet him at that place, babies are sensitive to apparition and stuff you know' so I was going to take him on one of the Hogwarts thestrals instead. He gave me a piece of paper on it telling me were the Potters lived ta get past the fidelius ya know." Hagrid explained.

"Went down the street to go pick them up as Dumbledore apperated away ta pick up Harry from his home. When I came out Sirius was gettin' off his Motorbike. He said to me 'give Harry to me Hagrid, im his godfather, I'll look after him' I had me orders though n' I was gonna follow em so I told 'im no." Hagrid continued, refusing to look at Sirius, he believed him guilty; with Malfoy as a representative it wasn't too much of a stretch in his mind.

"Black argued for a while but gave in after a while, an angry look on his face. E' told me ta take his motorbike to get Harry where I was goin' said it would be faster n' tha' E' wouldn't be needin' it no more. So I got on the bike and left im' there, still got it back at the hut. n' that was the last I saw of im' till taday." Hagrid said his accent thick.

"Thank you." Lucius said pausing to give Hagrid time to compose himself, the man had been glassy eyed with a tear or two by the end of the story. It gave a good impression of him to the attending press to seem sympathetic to the man, it also separated the emotional story from the clinical questioning to follow, ensuring it would reflect how he directed it rather than the emotion dictated.

"You say Dumbledore handed you a piece of paper with location of the Potters hiding spot on it." Lucius asked.

"yes." Hagrid asked his attention alert again.

"How was it you knew they had hidden themselves to begin with?" he continued.

"Dumbledore told me they'd used the fidelius charm to hide themselves, meant no one could find them if they didn't know the secret." Hagrid said.

"Thank you Mr Hagrid. No further questions your honour." Lucius said before retaking his seat to confer with Sirius.

"Cross examine?" Dumbledore asked the prosecution. Privately thinking what had really been established with Hagrid's testimony, only that the Potter's had used a fidelius really, but it was smart to tie it down to Sirius's last known interaction before the alleged crime, enforcing its admission into the case.

"Thank you, your honour." Pius said standing up.

"Mr Hagrid could you tell me how Mr Black reacted to your refusal of his demand for the child?" Pius asked.

"like I said E was angry, E argued for a bit n then he calmed, down some n' gave me is bike." Hagrid said, unfortunately not how Pius had expected.

"Did he try to take the child from you?" Pius asked.

"Like I said, he asked for Harry." Hagrid said.

"Objection: leading the witness." Malfoy complained, see that Pius wanted to imply Sirius intended to harm Harry.

"Sustained. Stick to the facts not opinions, Mr Thicknesse." Dumbledore said.

"Very well, no further questions" Pius said sighing hoping to have implicated Sirius in something from Hagrid's opinion know that convicting a man was less to do with guilt than the opinions formed by the jury and that the first ones are the ones that tend to stick.

"Thank your Mr Hagrid, you may leave." Dumbledore said with a smile, informing Hagrid what he was supposed to do.

"Next witness?" Albus asked.

"Defence calls, Gilbert Wimple, charms expert from the ministry's committee on experimental charms division." Announced Lucius to the court summoning in said expert witness. His questions to Hagrid had been meant solely to reveal the use of a fidelius charm, he had others to call if need be to reveal it but they each could have helped the prosecution more than Hagrid.

The man walked down the aisle, his appearance was pale, as though he didn't see the sun often enough. His hair was more of a bushy main than a head of hair as it met his beard making it hard to tell were one ended and the other began.

Once the witness was seated Lucius started his examination.

"With the end of the war the Potters had been hidden under a fidelius charm, as we heard from our last witness. I have called Mr Wimple here today to give us all a short master class on the spell; he is after all the ministry's foremost expert on the spell." Lucius informed the jury, almost daring the prosecution to object, while doing so would hamper his case it would give him the opportunity he needed for another tactic he wanted to employ to undermine the ministry and its competence. After all he didn't truly need Sirius free, only to look as though he was the hero of the situation and the ministry a bunch of incompetent fools.

"Mr Wimple perhaps you could begin with a brief overview of the spell before diving into the specifics?" Lucius asked.

"err, right yes, well, the fidelius charm is a sell so simple it is genius, in essence the caster must have a secret, be it a location or just plain information. In order to hide that information they must have a confidant they must trust absolutely, they share the secret with the confidant and cast the spell. In doing to anyone who knew about the secret would instantly be unable to remember it. Only the confidant would then know the secret even the subject or subjects of the secret would not know." Mr Wimple said.

"So for example Mr and Mrs Potter where in hiding with their new-born son, fearful for the lives of their family, as any family would be in times of war, they could hide themselves with the fidelius charm?" Lucius asked, hashing over ground everyone already knew, making the prosecution wonder just where he was going with this line of questioning.

"Yes, they would have needed to be told that they were hidden by their confidant after the spell was cast or they would have been confused as to what was actually happening." Mr Wimple said getting a smile from the jury at the imagined humour of the situation presented.

"So for anyone to know about the secret after it has been hidden they must be told by the confidant." Lucius asked.

"yes." Replied Wimple.

"Would it have to be verbal?" Lucius asked.

"No, in fact it could be anything from a written note to a side long glance, drawing attention to the secret. It need not even be explicit even so much as leading another to the conclusion of the secret would be enough to undo the protection of the spell." Gilbert explained.

"So what about once the secret is known to a few, can they then pass on that information freely?" Lucius asked.

"No, it is impossible for anyone not the confidant to pass on the information for the life of the secret." Wimple said firmly.

"What about in the case of written information, such as we have here. Would the information need to be passed directly from the Confidant to the recipient or would it simply suffice that it was originally written by him or her?" Lucius asked getting very specific now.

"It only need originate from the confidant; after the spell was cast any written before the spell was cast would appear blank until the recipient knew the secret." Wimple said.

"so unless you actually see the confidant write the note in the case of the written secret, there is no way of knowing for sure that they are in fact the confidant?" Lucius asked.

"That is correct." Wimple said.

"Thank you. No further questions your honour." Lucius said, again leaving no recourse for the prosecution to cross examine, part of his plan to make the prosecution look dim-witted and slow. The questions had been enough to inform the jury of the spells limitations and more importantly plant suspicion of the identity of the Potter's confidant.

It was planned in advance to cover this as soon as possible because he knew having discussed it with Sirius beforehand that everyone had been handed parchment notes with the secret on by him, even if Pettigrew had written them. By covering it so early it would call into question the testimony of every witness the prosecution called to verify that Sirius was the confidant.

"Cross examine?" Dumbledore asked.

"No thank you your honour." Pius said thinking nothing else relevant to the case could be found from this expert witness.

"Very well, you may step down Mr Wimple." Albus instructed the man.

"Next witness?" Dumbledore asked Malfoy.

"The defence calls Cornelius Fudge to the stand." Lucius said with a hint of a smirk. There were gasps all around the court that the minister would be testifying, even in such an important case as this.

"Are you sure about this Mr Malfoy?" Albus asked trying to ensure Lucius wasn't just trying to further his political ambition with this.

"Oh yes, quite sure." Lucius said as Minister Fudge made his way to the stand.

"You are Cornelius Fudge, are you not?" Lucius asked, getting a smile from the jury.

"I think we are all quite well aware of who he is Mr Malfoy." Albus interrupted.

"Sorry your honour, of course, I meant to say you are Cornelius Fudge formerly of the Obliviator department as of nineteen eighty one?" Lucius said undermining both Dumbledore and Fudge a little with the same remark, while simultaneously entertaining the jury and the press.

"Yes." Minister Fudge replied not amused by Malfoy's antics.

"You are on record as being the Obliviator in charge during the incident in which my client was arrested, could you describe the scene for us and the response to it please." Lucius asked he could have called any of the obliviators that had been on the scene that day but with the recent bad press the spell had gotten associating the current minister with it would further work in his favour.

"Very well, I was called out as part of a squad to clear up the area after the explosion caused by Black's fight with Pettigrew. When I arrived on the scene I quickly surveyed the damage to the buildings nearby and the large hole in the sewer line. The most practical excuse for such damage was a gas explosion caused by faulty muggle piping, I instructed my team to gather all witnesses and to obliviate them with that excuse." Promptly reported.

"As part of the D.M.A.C. you were trained to recognise several types of spell damage, what would you say caused, the damage to the street." Lucius asked.

"We at first glance thought it to be a large dark explosive curse, upon closer inspection it was revealed to be caused by two explosions. The first a small confringo, barely the size of a person, the second was triggered by the confringo, was actually a gas main, though not leaky had been damaged by the spell and exploded damaging the street, killing Peter and the Muggles." Answered Minister Fudge.

"So, the vast majority of the spell damage was to the ground, is it possible to tell whether the spell was directed there or if it was simply damaged by the radius of the spell." Lucius asked, to the mild confusion of the Minister.

"The spell almost certainly came into contact with street; the blast would not have reached the gas pipe causing the larger explosion." Explained not seeing the point of the questions, resenting the waste of his time.

"In your expert opinion was the secondary explosion intentional?" Lucius asked.

"I would say so, what would have been the point otherwise; the blast was several feet away from Peter's body and would not have killed him otherwise." The minister asked mildly condescendingly. The answer was perfect for Malfoy, not only would it play The Minister for a fool later when he asked questions of another witness, but the prosecution couldn't even object to the freely offered conjecture as it would make the minister look like an idiot.

"Thank you no further questions your honour." Malfoy said sitting down, the question had been a curiosity of Sirius's mainly, something his mind had been dwelling on since his arrest.

"Cross examine?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, thank you." Pius said, while The Minister wasn't the witness he would have called, he had intended to call an obliviator from the scene this was an opportune time as any to ask his questions.

"Was it possible to determine the origin of the spell that caused the first explosion?" Pius asked.

"it wasn't deemed necessary, the target of the spell had clearly been to cause the secondary explosion, the only wizard there besides the victim was Sirius as such no one questioned that he fired the curse." Fudge said.

"Objection: supposition." Lucius said. He had been waiting for this calling the Minister had been a ploy to have him make a fool of himself and the prosecution at the same time. This question was bound to come up, without it the prosecution had no proof of any crime. Having called the obliviator himself instead of waiting for the prosecution to he had been able to leave the story of what happened untold for now.

"Sustained. The jury is instructed to dismiss the supposed origin of the curse." Dumbledore said, causing Fudge to look up at him and frown as though he was calling his competence into question.

"Very well, tell me about the victim, was the damage done typical of explosions." Pius asked.

"Not typically no, but not unheard of, all that was left of the victim was the right index finger. It was determined that it had been severed prior to the explosions via a cutting curse, so it escaped the blast damage." Fudge said.

"So, Peter was in combat with someone immediately prior to the explosion?" Pius asked knowing that if he suggested Sirius without evidence Malfoy would object, he had wanted to call an auror first to get a description of the battle first.

"Almost certainly so, the injury is typical of dark disarming spells." Fudge said.

"Thank you, no further questions." Pius said.

"Thank you, you may leave Minister Fudge." Albus said politely.

"Next witness?" Albus asked.

"Defence calls Sirius Black to the stand." Lucius said. It had been expected at some point for him to tell his side, though it had been thought to be earlier, by most of those in attendance.

It was with a cheeky smile that Sirius took the stand, some of his old mischievousness' coming out again with what was about to happen, almost like a prank on everyone there.

"Could you describe for the court the events in which the fidelius was cast for us please?" Lucius asked.

"Certainly, we had been told that the Dark Lord was coming after Harry, we didn't know why but we had testimony from a spy in his ranks that it was true. Lily ever the book worm found a spell she believed could keep them all safe, at least until the war ended, the fidelius charm. James came to me and asked me to be secret keeper for them, at first I said yes, he went away saying they needed to do a bit more research before they cast it but to be ready in a few days." Sirius said.

"By the time he came back in a few days' time, I had done a lot of thinking. I told him as soon as anyone found out that they were hidden under the spell they would come right for me assuming I was the secret keeper, I wasn't afraid though, but I figured they would eventually get it out of me. So I suggested that I be the decoy and that we use Peter as the real one, no one would expect it and it would be like a prank on the enemy, we used to be quite the bunch of pranksters and we hadn't pulled anything recently." Sirius Continued, giving a charming smile to the jury.

"When the spell was preformed Peter gave me the parchment he had used one of my dicta-quills to write out the secret on, so that it had my handwriting. I went around playing the part showing others the secret eventually leaving it with Dumbledore, in case of emergency. We fooled everyone into thinking I was the secret keeper." He finished.

"So without the parchment you could not have betrayed the potters to The Dark Lord, as you were not the secret keeper?" Lucius asked to make sure the jury got the point of his story.

"Correct." Black answered.

"Perhaps we could move forward to the night of October thirty first nineteen eighty one?" Lucius said.

"Yea, on Halloween I was getting the usual supplies for James and Lily, when the alarms we had set up to be linked to the wards went off alerting me that something had happened. I didn't go to the Potters, knowing that it could have been a false alarm, the wards extended outside of the charm and it had happened more than once. I went to check on Peter's hide out, the only way they could have gotten in is if they had captured Peter or somehow killed Dumbledore." Sirius explained.

"When I got there, I was surprised to find no signs of a struggle, nothing out of place and most importantly no Peter. He didn't live far from the Potters so I un-shrunk my bike and rode down to their house, but it was already too late. When I got there Hagrid was already coming out with Harry, I asked for him he refused saying something about Dumbledore's orders. Eventually I figured it was ok and he could look after Harry while I went to find peter, so I gave him my bike to help transport Harry."

"After that I went back to Peter's place looking for clues as to where he might be, who might have taken him. When I couldn't find anything helpful in tracking him down I." he paused here looking to Lucius for confirmation and getting a nod. "I transformed into my animagus form, a large black dog. I've had practice in school at tracking people, we used to play hide and seek, we were all animagus.

"There were no other scents in the house only Peter's and mine from earlier. I followed Peter's, he had left the house alone and met up with another sent, I knew it well from our work fighting The Dark Lord, it was his. They headed off together in the direction of the Potter's house. Once I realised what that meant, that Peter had betrayed them to their deaths I was furious." Sirius said, becoming visibly angry on the stand.

"The Dark Lord's sent ended at the pile of robes in Harry's bedroom, but Peter's didn't, there was the tell-tale smell of sulphur, it's very faint but as a dog you can smell it whenever anyone apperates. I knew then he had made to flee and I wasn't going to let that happen, he as good as killed them himself. So I started checking out all the hiding spots and safe houses we had set up over the course of the war." Sirius said with a sigh.

"I found some emptied, others ransacked by raids, twenty or so houses later, I caught up with Peter. He was stripping the valuables and food from one of the safe houses we had set up in South London. I confronted him as he left, he didn't seem surprised to see me. I asked him where he was going, but he shouted at me asking me to stay back not to come closer, asking why I did it, why I killed, Lily and James." Sirius told the court anger clear in his face now.

"I didn't get it at first, but then he fired a curse at the street, I rose my want and conjured a shield thinking it was aimed at me. There was a gigantic boom, so I checked around but all I found was a finger. I started laughing realising that even in his escape he couldn't help but mess up, but then the aurors arrived and arrested me. I woke up in Azkaban after that, kinda expected this a little earlier you know." Sirius said not feeling the mirth of his statement.

"Thank you Mr Black. No further questions." Lucius said.

This story left the prosecutor in a hole, after consideration, much of the evidence gathered was circumstantial and Sirius's story had filled the jury's head with a story he would now have to find a hole in, more importantly evidence for that hole. Without some evidence to contradict Sirius's story, he was by law telling the truth and therefore innocent.

The only witnesses to the event in the London street were muggles and they had since been obliviated, apparently without being questioned, fudge had messed that up. Worse still when he called the arresting officer it was going to look like nothing more than corroborating blacks story that he was laughing at the quirk of fate that the traitor killed himself.

"Next witness?" Albus asked once Sirius had retaken his seat next to Malfoy at the defence desk.

"No further witnesses your honour, the defence rests." Malfoy said.

"Very well, prosecution your first witness please?" Albus asked turning to face Pius.

"Prosecution calls Remus Lupin." Pius called.

With Remus on the stand Pius approached to begin asking his questions.

"Could you tell me about your relationship to the defendant please?" Pius asked.

"Ok, err, back in Hogwarts me, Sirius James and Peter, were the best of friends, a group of pranksters we spent almost all of our time together in one way or another. When we left school the war was going on hard, we banded together to help fight back. We even fought The Dark Lord a few times together." Remus told the court.

"Eventually though our raids kept hitting cleaned out enemy safe houses, so we figured that someone must have been passing information on our plans. Even for a group of friends like us, who had grown up together the war was tearing us apart; we no longer spent as much time together and every moment spent apart was time you were wondering if they were passing information over. The only ones we were sure of were James and Lily because by that time they had had Harry and couldn't leave him alone for long periods of time." Remus said, the entire time Sirius had been pointedly looking in the opposite direction to his only surviving friend snubbing him for the lack of confidence he had had in him.

"So you would say you knew him very well yet despite that you still suspected him when it came to the potential spy?" Pius asked.

"Yes." Remus said slightly ashamed of himself for admitting it, having heard Sirius's side of the story now.

"Could you confirm for us that Sirius was indeed the Confidant in the Potter's fidelius charm please?" Pius said, Sirius still refusing to look at his old friend.

"I… I don't think so, until today I thought he was but like he said he gave us notes, I never actually saw him write it and he would have seen such a thing as a prank." Remus said even more ashamed then he had been before. It clearly annoyed Pius Remus's testimony had been key in establishing Black's guilt in the conspiracy charge.

"Very well, no further questions your honour." Pius said with a definite edge in his voice.

"Cross examine?" Dumbledore asked looking to a more than a little smug Malfoy.

"No thank you" Lucius said with a confident smile on his face.

"Very well you may go Mr Lupin. Next witness?" Albus asked turning to face Pius.

"The prosecution calls Officer Gawain Robards, arresting officer and first on the scene." Pius called; sure he could get something that would contradict Blacks story from him. After a short wait for the man to reach the witness box Pius began asking his questions.

"You were first on the scene correct?" Pius asked to establish the facts.

"That is correct." Gawain replied automatically.

"Could you tell us what you found when you arrived?" Pius asked.

"When I got there, there was lots of smoke and debris everywhere and several screaming muggle civilians. Several bodies had been dismembered and scattered over a large area from an explosion. Black was on his knees wand in hand with blood on his face and chard clothing. I reacted quickly seeing no other cause for the damage and stunned him. After witch I summoned the D.M.A.C. as is regulation in the situation, black was sent to a holding cell with a portkey." Gawain explained.

"Thank you, did you follow up on the questioning of Black after the initial arrest?" Pius asked trying to find a shred of evidence to prove Black's tale false.

"No the questioning of suspects, is always handled by someone other than the arresting officer to avoid potential conflict in the case of violent arrests, I don't know who was on duty that day." Gawain explained for the court, to ensure they didn't believe he was at fault, knowing that someone was going to get the blame for the utter mess this was turning out to be.

"Grrr, thank you. No further questions." Pius said grumbling, actually getting angry now, he couldn't expose any evidence that would give him an opportunity to contradict Sirius's story. A case like this should have never made it to court the only reason it had was apparently administerial oversight with the end of the war.

"Next witness?" Dumbledore asked politely.

Knowing better than to leave the question open of who was actually to blame, Pius opted to bring in the only physical evidence he had of the day, the log book of questioning aurors on duty that day.

"The defence would like to submit the log book from the aurors department of the day of the first of November into evidence." Pius said presenting the log book in question, directing attention to the day in question.

"Very well." Dumbledore said, lowing his head to inspect the line.

"As we can see from the log Auror on duty that night was Frank Longbottom. As we know from the Lestrange trail the reason he was unable to attend work that day was because he had been captured and was being tortured." Pius informed the court in the event they did not know, making sure to take any blame for the incarceration away from anyone the paperwork could implicate.

"Will that be all?" Dumbledore asked Pius, knowing now there was no hope of a case for the prosecution.

"Yes your honour, the Prosecution rests." Pius finished, there was an almost visible smirk on Malfoy's face and Sirius looked pretty pleased too.

"Very well the jury will now deliberate; court will recess until a decision is reached." Dumbledore informed everyone as he pushed himself up from the chair.

The jury didn't need long it had been clear form very early on there had been a serious miscarriage of justice, not only that Sirius hadn't gotten his trail, but that he seemed to be innocent. When the prosecution's case fell apart being unable to punch any holes in Black's testimony. Having their own witnesses called for the defence and questions asked in such a way as to provide an iron clad reasons for Black's behaviour.

The majority of the rest of the trail after that had been trying to shift blame from one department to another, until it reached someone no longer able to defend themselves, not that the jury would hold that against them. That had been the point however, in rising that they had been tortured Pius had avoided them wondering why did no one take over their duties when they didn't turn up that day, the answer that everyone was out celebrating wouldn't go over well.

A.N. I don't know how actual court cases work but this seemed tv law showy enough

A.N. why create an oc when there are plenty of already created people ready to be moulded into what you need (both in frank Longbottom and fudge)

A.N. I didn't even know Cornelius fudge was a member of the dept. magical accidents and catastrophes until I was looking for an obliviator to interview on hp wikia hence why the above statement is a good idea

A.N. at this time Sirius doesn't know Pettigrew is alive; he only has the half crazed thoughts of that moment over and over again in Azkaban and the belief that he escaped, had he known for sure he would have escaped like he did in the books when he found out for sure.


End file.
